Like the weather in much of Canada, if you find yourself not liking the indie anthology New York, I Love You, wait a few minutes. It’ll change.
A patchwork quilt sewn by the motliest crew of filmmakers, this American spinoff of the art-house anthology Paris Je T’aime (by the same producers), ranges in mood from ponderous, to cute, to enigmatic to enjoyably shticky to utterly confusing depending on which of the 11 short films on the Big Apple theme you’re watching.
Unlike, say, New York Stories — with its handful of tales from oh-so-New-Yorkers such as Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen — New York, I Love You is a paean to the city from people you often don’t necessarily associate with it.
Case in point: Chinese director Jiang Wen, whose tale of a young pickpocket (Hayden Christensen) and an older one (Andy Garcia), who spar at sleight-of-hand over the attentions of the old pro’s mistress (Rachel Bilson), could have been a Scorsese throwaway.
Or Mira Nair, who offers up a characteristically multiculturally themed story about a young Hassidic woman (Natalie Portman) who has ritually shaved her head in preparation for marriage, and her playful sympatico with a Jain jewelry dealer (Slumdog Millionaire’s Irrfan Khan).
To her credit, Portman’s own feel-good (if unmemorable) directorial effort, about a father-and-daughter in Central Park, is the only one to feature a black character. In New York.
Even Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) plays against type. There is not an explosion to be found in his quirky, hormone-drenched story of a nebbish high school kid (Anton Yelchin) facing the prom dateless, who is set up on a blind date with the handicapped daughter (Olivia Thirlby) of a curmudgeonly Italian shopkeeper (James Caan). There’s very little to be said about this episode without coming dangerously close to revealing the surprise end.
Caan’s character is one of a couple of repeat characters. But the true threadline character is Zoe (Emilie Ohana), an artist keeping a New York video diary, whose lens captures bits and pieces of each of the 11 stories. The result varies. But like a deli menu, there’s something for nearly every taste in New York, I Love You.
My favourite is an is-it-real playlet directed by Shekhar Kapur and set in a stately Plaza-like hotel, where an aging opera star (Julie Christie) contemplates suicide, while being catered to by a doting and solicitous crippled young bellman (Shia LaBeouf). Memories pile on memories, phantoms of lives past appear, all in a few minutes of sad drama.
At times, the barrage of mini-plays comes off like short-attention-span theatre. There is an almost co-op egalitarianism to the timing of the material, with some segments leaving the viewer wanting more and others wearing out their welcome somewhat in a short time.
But with the names and talents involved (others not previously mentioned here include Ethan Hawke, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Cloris Leachman, Chris Cooper and Eli Wallach), you know that nobody was going to get short shrift in the editing room.
If nothing else, the sheer volume of stories in New York, I Love You gives you plenty to talk about after.
(This film is rated 14-A)
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