NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU review by Gary Dean Murray

The anthology film is a rare bird in the multiplex nest of the 21st century. Every once in a while, some producers get the bright idea of giving a bunch of different directors a chance to craft different short stories into a large narrative. We have had New York Stories and Four Rooms grace the cinema over the last few years. The latest to try this storytelling concept is the independent drama New York, I Love You.

The film is set in and around New York and shows different people in different aspects of love in the Big Apple. Events happen in a random fashion with six degrees of separation between different people. One person who is in a cab becomes the major player in another vignette. The patchwork of stories are to be blended into a cohesive whole. It is an NYC of dreams without any basis in a real world, the city of the cinema, the town of Woody Allen movies.



Of all the stories, a personal favorite was the tale of a teen Ben. His date stands him up on prom night and the local pharmacist (James Caan) sets him up with his daughter. Little does Ben know that his date is in a wheelchair. The discovery that his perceptions of the handicapped may be rooted in falsehoods drive to a cute and obvious conclusion. The little bit of two elder people Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman shows how love still holds its bloom even with the advance of age.

But some of the stories have no structure. The most touching was of a painter who struggles to convince a young Asian woman to pose for his painting. It is simple visions with little narrative, letting the emotion of the scenes build into a bittersweet end.

The most obscure story in New York, I Love You was of a diva (Julie Christie) who has a run in with a young bellhop (Shia LeBeouf). It takes on a dreamlike quality as it weaves an obtuse story of struggle. While some have a later point, some are just to show different aspects of people crammed into a giant city, individuals living on top of one another. They are conversations, whither on the streets or in a bar.



In the world of New York, I Love You we get cleaver writers talking to cleaver hookers, smart artists with smart waiters, struggling composers against struggling cab drivers. But the biggest star of the exercise that is New York, I Love You is the city itself. It takes on a life on its own, as if each person in the town is a small cog in the giant machine, each performing its little function without ever seeing how its little piece adds up to the whole.

This is a sprawling affair treating different aspects of love while never giving any definite statement. The language is stilted and feels unnatural, more like people reading written words than actual conversations between people. The film does take on a fantasy quality, and it shows the beauty of the city in a hard edged grit. We get the look of Taxi Driver NYC placed in the illusion of Radio Days.

Though the cast of New York, I Love You is stellar. Bradley Cooper, Drea De Matteo, Ethan Hawke, John Hurt, Orlando Bloom, Andy Garcia, Natalie Portman and Christian Ricci are just a few of the other names that grace the screen The film has credited eleven directors and 19 writers. It is a giant endeavor.

The entire film feels more like an abbreviated version of Love American Style, that 1970's TV show that sired the series Happy Days and started the careers of many in Hollywood. It is like a box of chocolates. You may not relish one little flavor of New York, I Love You but the next bite might be more to your liking.

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