Owned by Lillian, The Lorraine, once the crown jewel of the Borscht Belt, is now dilapidated, staffed by a number of rambunctious kids, and barely held together by a single handyman.
The film follows Molly's camaraderie with the staff and the bond she has with her grandmother, her affair with the hotel's sole handyman, and her subsequent determination to rescue the Lorraine from being sold.
He described the film as a "lukewarm cinematic blintz" and as "aggressively nice and rather bland" compared to Dirty Dancing, a romantic drama also set in a Catskills resort and released that same year.
Kart criticized the film's pace, stating that the Sweet Lorraine was hampered by " a lack of dramatic heat" and that "not enough happens to make it more than a moderately pleasant way to pass the time".
Kart concluded his review by praising Freddie Roman's performance, and by stating that Gomer's "low-key approach gives the film the feel of an anecdote that has been mounted for public television, not theatrical release".