Following producer Emmanuel Benbihy's concept behind the other city plus love film Paris, je t'aime (Paris, I Love You) in 2006, New York, I Love You
is a collection of vignettes by notable filmmakers and actors based
around the subject of falling in love in the city that never sleeps. It
also touches on love for the city itself in some of the segments.
While
most of the stories work and are interesting, some feel out of place
and go nowhere. Brett Ratner's tale of a teenage romp-with-a-twist
starring James Caan and Anton Yelchin is cute and quirky. Bradley
Cooper and Drea de Matteo hooking up after a drunken night at a bar in
Allen Hughes's cool feature is fun, and Ethan Hawke gives a great
performance as an egotistical writer hitting on the wrong woman (Maggie
Q) while sharing a smoke outside a restaurant. But Shekhar Kapur's
contribution about an aging singer (Julie Christie) reflecting
in a hotel suite with a bellboy (Shia LaBeouf) is dry and drags on
longer than it should. And Natalie Portman's mixed-religion fantasy has
its moments but leaves the audience wanting more.
Other intriguing
moments include a thief (Hayden Christensen) being outsmarted by an
older man (Andy Garcia) yet still getting the girl (Rachel Bilson), a
young musician (Orlando Bloom) who needs a muse (Christina Ricci) to
help him focus on finishing the score he's working on, and a cute older
couple (Cloris Leachman and Eli Wallach) celebrating their anniversary.
What I found most interesting about New York, I Love You is who's absent from the film, notably Woody Allen. Allen has made a career out of inspired love stories set in NYC (Annie Hall and Manhattan
for example) and I'm sure fitting in a narrative by him would have
rounded out the collection nicely. Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese would
have been great additions too.
If you're a fan of New York and romance is your genre, you'll probably enjoy New York, I Love You a lot. One thing's for sure -- it will make you want to pay the town a visit.
*** out of 5 stars
Rated R
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Natalie Portman, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Robin Wright Penn
Directed by: Yvan Attal, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner, Mira Nair
Official Site IMDb
brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com
ALSO OPENING THIS WEEK: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Old Dogs, Ninja Assassin, The Road, The Headless Woman
Top image: A scene from New York, I Love You. Courtesy E1 Entertainment.