“New York, I Love You

“New York, I Love You,” for all its cuteness and nostalgia, may have been too long and disjointed for its own good. The film stars many big names in various vignettes, and while some were clever and heartfelt, others were confusing and just well, uninteresting.

Here’s a vignette I enjoyed. Meet David (Orlando Bloom), who is a composer working on a film. He communicates with the director’s assistant, Camille (Christina Ricci), by phone, who expresses the director’s dissatisfaction and complaints while trying to ease David’s fragile state of mind.

David walks around New York on the phone while waking up in compromising positions around his cramped apartment, all the while pleading with Camille to send a picture of what she looks like since she is so sympathetic to his plight.

David almost throws in the towel, until Camille shows up to save the day, after relating an interesting story about how Dostoyevsky met his wife. It is very cute, and was one of the few vignettes that had a solid beginning, middle and end.

I will quickly relate one vignette I found extremely, well, pointless. Hayden Christiensen is Ben, a hipster-looking thief who is a skilled pick-pocketer. He follows a beautiful girl exiting a photo-booth. She is Molly (Rachel Bilson), and they end up in a vacant bar. In walks Garry (Andy Garcia), the older lover of Molly and coincidentally the man whom Ben has just stolen from.

There is an exchange between the men, which implied that Garry is hip to all of Ben’s motives. After Ben’s wallet goes missing and somehow returns, Ben exits, still managing to take Garry’s money.

This was confusing. It was also the very first vignette, and automatically left me questioning the whole idea of the movie. But there is some excellent acting here, particularly in a more romantic vignette between Bradley Cooper and Drea de Matteo.

I also commend the editing, as each vignette was written and directed by different people. This is perhaps why the movie lacks solidarity. I suppose the idea of New York moments was supposed to be enough.

Written by: Natalie Gregory

Reviewers Rating: 6
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