Screen Scene: New York, I Love You
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 15, 2009 11:09 p.m.
“New York, I Love You” is a sequel of sorts, a follow-up to the 2006 film “Paris, je t’aime,” a story made up of many different interweaving stories and connected characters, with the boldest character being the city itself.
The second in a series of “Cities of Love” films, it attempts to paint a portrait ““ or rather, 10 different portraits ““ of one of the most complicated and beautiful cities in the world.
New York has long been the subject of many tributes, often idolized and romanticized by authors and artists. Each segment in “New York, I Love You” is designed to pay homage to one of the multiple facets of the city. It’s a daunting attempt, given how crowded the field is: Think of the posh, stylish late-’90s feminism of “Sex and the City,” Woody Allen’s neurotic, uber-intellectual “Annie Hall,” the classic romantic perspective of Rob Reiner’s “When Harry Met Sally …,” the urban grittiness in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and so on.
Taking power in numbers, this film is a result of a collaborative effort, with 10 segments directed by 11 directors and featuring roughly half of the actors listed in the Internet Movie Database.
OK, it’s a small exaggeration, but it can sometimes be distracting to sit and wonder where you have seen one actor or another before ““ enough to forget what’s actually going on. From Cloris Leachman to Blake Lively to Maggie Q and from James Caan to Justin Bartha and Bradley Cooper, the cast is an impressive representation of the diversity of New York City, or at least the Screen Actors Guild.
The problem is, despite the inclusion of specific transitions designed to unite the stories, the film becomes a sloppy combination of different voices and perspectives. From comedy to romance to drama set in Chinatown and Soho and the Upper West Side and Central Park, it’s similar to mixing all the flavors in a soda fountain: fun in theory but unpleasant and confusing in reality.
The segments attempt to tackle all sorts of heterosexual-themed love stories found in different short films: the typical quirky teen romance, the con artist and his foe, the adorable old couple, the cougar and her prey; a lot goes on in 110 minutes.
Each short works on its own, but it is not as effective as a whole. A videographer serves as a recurring character who is designed to unify the stories, but the only thing she unifies is how the role of a filmmaker capturing a story within a story has been cliche since the era of “Rent,” which also was a striking, personal portrayal of a distinct part of New York City. Nice try.
It is mildly interesting to see a bit of a “Star Wars” reunion, as Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman both star but have no scenes together, nor is there one Darth Vader reference. Portman makes her directorial debut in one of the segments about a biracial girl and her father, which she also wrote. Her short is so subtle that it comes off as unremarkable, despite using nonprofessional actors and the backdrop of a beautiful East Coast spring.
Shia LaBeouf is straight-up ridiculous playing a Russian bellhop with disabilities, limping his way through his scene with his horrible fake accent.
As far as artistic endeavors go, it’s an ambitious challenge to try to capture the spirit of a city, especially one as epic as New York City. Native New Yorkers may be better able to appreciate such a feat, but for a native Californian, it seems like all these ideas are just too big for one movie.
““ Edward Truong
E-mail Truong at
