As a man in his 50s, could I relate to the adventures of a 30-something single woman who navigates relationship waters in 1980s New York? Probably not, but I thought I’d give 1988’s Crossing Delancey a shot nonetheless.

Isabelle Grossman (Amy Irving) works at a struggling independent bookstore. This allows her to know author Anton Maes (Jeroen Krabbé) and she displays romantic interest in him, though he sends her mixed messages.

Impatient to see 33-year-old Isabelle get married, her grandmother (Reizl Bozyk) gets her set up with pickle-maker Sam Posner (Peter Riegert). This leads Isabelle to decide which path to follow between practical Sam and exotic Anton.

At the start, I implied I’d find it tough to connect to the tale told in Delancey. My gender, my age, my geographic location – all of these meant I wouldn’t find much here that would link to my life experiences.

Of course, that holds true for plenty of movies, so these concerns didn’t doom Delancey. The movie’s tedious and navel-gazing view of love among New Yorkers does the job, however.

Actually, the biggest issue here sits at its core: our lead character. Isabelle barely exhibits a personality and seems like a bland cipher too much of the time.

Oh, Delancey throws out some 80s “I don’t need a man to feel fulfilled” female empowerment concepts, but it doesn’t believe in them. The entire movie literally revolves around her romantic life, so these conceits lack punch.

This seems especially true because Delancey goes to some pains to show how empty Isabelle’s life is without a man involved. Although it pays lip service to female independence, it also only allows Isabelle to blossom and become “complete” when she discovers love.

I find nothing overtly wrong with Irving’s performance, but as written, Isabelle simply fails to display any traits that make her interesting or compelling. Perhaps the filmmakers did so intentionally, as a “blank slate” Isabelle allowed female viewers to more easily plop themselves in her shoes.

Whatever the case, it doesn’t work. With such a boring lead, I find it intensely difficult to invest in her journey.

On the opposite side, Isabelle’s “Bubbie” becomes a persistent annoyance. Bozyk overacts relentlessly and it feels like she based her performance on Harpo Marx. Every time Bozyk’s too-broad-for-vaudeville character appeared on screen, I couldn’t wait for her to leave.

The two male leads do fine. Krabbé leans into his role’s egotistical cad side but not so much to make him seem completely wrong for Isabelle, while Riegert allows Sam to seem like a good guy without turning into a passive schlub.

If Delancey focused on those characters – or if it allowed its female protagonist an actual personality – perhaps it would fare better. As it stands, though, it becomes a shallow and dull exploration of a boring woman’s love life.

Crossing Delancey appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Movies from 1988 usually look a bit drab, but this one seemed reasonably attractive.

Sharpness seemed largely good. Sporadic examples of softness cropped up, but these stayed pretty modest, so most of the flick came across as pretty detailed and tight.

No issues with jaggies or shimmering occurred, and edge haloes were absent. Grain seemed light and natural, and I saw no print flaws.

Colors leaned a bit toward an amber vibe, with some blues as well. These felt well-rendered within the film’s visual choices.

Black levels seemed good, with consistently rich and deep tones, and shadow detail was positive. Overall, the movie looked pretty strong.

Don’t expect much from the movie’s DTS-HD MA 2.0 soundtrack, as it delivered a wholly tame affair. However, it brought a mix appropriate for the film.

Music broadened to the sides well, and effects occasionally blossomed to fill front and rear channels. A chatty affair, the mix came to life somewhat during scenes on the street or in restaurants, but it didn’t deliver an especially impactful soundscape.

Audio quality worked fine, with speech that seemed natural and distinctive. Music showed nice range and vivacity.

Effects lacked a lot to do but nonetheless came across as reasonably accurate. Though the track never excelled, it appeared fine for the story at hand.

A few extras pop up here, and we get a new program entitled Crossing Delancey Revisited. It runs 29 minutes, 58 seconds and brings comments from writer Susan Sandler and actors Amy Irving and Peter Riegert.

We learn of the project’s roots and development, the source play and its cinematic adaptation, cast and performances, influences, the New York of the era and shooting there, “Revisited” offers a nice collection of notes related to the film.

Recorded in 1988, we get an Interview with Director Joan Micklin Silver. Taken from a seminar at the AFI, the audio-only reel lasts 22 minutes, 31 seconds.

The filmmaker discusses her life and career as well as aspects of the Delancey production. Silver gives us a quality overview.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a booklet with art, credits and an essay from critic Rachel Syme. It finishes the set on a positive note.

When a movie revolves around the relationships of one character, the audience needs to wholly invest in his or her journey. Saddled with an intensely bland lead role, Crossing Delancey fails to do, and coupled with other flaws, this leaves it as a dull cinematic experience. The Blu-ray comes with good picture, appropriate audio and a small allotment of bonus materials. Delancey fails to become a compelling character piece.