New York, I Love You

Movie Title-- New York, I Love You

Release Year-- 2009

Running Time-- 1 Hour and 43 Minutes

Film Company-- Vivendi Entertainment

Film Director-- Faith Akin, Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Brett Ratner, Randall Blasmeyer, Shekhar Kapur, Natalie Portman

Cast-- Natalie Portman, Robin Wright Penn, Bradley Cooper, Shia LaBeouf, Blake Lively, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Hayden Christensen, Ethan Hawke, Andy Garcia, James Caan, Anton Yelchin, Rachel Bilson, Chris Cooper, Cloris Leachman, Eli Wallach

Set in New York, people live their lives and fall in love in the "city that never sleeps". Directed by several different directors and filmed in different film styles, it is a hodge podge of stories combined to make one.

OK, so, when I first heard of this film I was interested in seeing it. With there being several different directors combining their own visions to make one movie, it reminded me of some of the other movies I have seen and enjoyed. This movie however, was not one of them. When directors make a movie like this one, where all of their visions are complied into one work, it is either hit or miss. This movie was a miss. There truly was too many cooks in the kitchen on this one. Each story seemed separate and although some of the characters crossed over into a different director's vision (most likely to help tie all the mini films together), there really was not much of a story. There was hardly enough time for the character's to be introduced and to become involved in their personal story before it moved on to the next person. Don't get me wrong, there were a few stories that were easy to follow but most of it kept the viewer asking "what the hell is going on here?".


There were a few highlights, the part with Cloris Leachman and Eli Wallach was very touching and quite humorous. Hearing the banter between two elderly people that obviously love each other very much was amusing. Another good part was when Anton Yelchin (better known as Pavel Chekov in the newest "Star Trek" movie) went to prom. I don't want to say anything to spoil it, but it was a good part too.

Honestly, the main character in the movie was New York itself. Not only was New York the setting of the movie but it was also the most important part of the movie. Just watching everything in the background, nothing stops moving; from the traffic, to the trees and flowers blowing in the wind, it makes New York City it's very own living and breathing entity. It shows that without the city itself, there would have been no movie in the first place.


In the end, "New York, I Love You" wasn't worth the time it took to make the movie. Too many directors directing too many stories that don't have enough time to truly develop makes for one bad movie. I could have found something better to do with the hour and forty-five minutes it took to watch the movie. If you have to watch the movie because you have some kind of an untold "obligation" to your favorite actor to watch whatever film they are in and they happen to be in this one, I would suggest running through the movie until you get to the part your actor is in and then turn it off. New York, we do love you, we just don't love your movie. If you decide to watch the movie, good luck and don't forget the popcorn.