New York, I Love You (2009)

Directors:

Fatih Akin
Yvan Attal

Writers:

Emmanuel Benbihy (concept)
Tristan Carné (premise)

Release Date:

16 October 2009 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

every moment another story begins

Plot:

An anthology film joining several love stories set in one of the most loved cities of the world, New York.

Plot Keywords:

Love | New York | Anthology | Collection Of Short Films | Omnibus

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Natalie Portman	...	Rifka (segment "Mira Nair")
Shia LaBeouf	...	Jacob (segment "Shekhar Kapur")
Anton Yelchin	...	Boy in the Park (segment "Brett Ratner")
Bradley Cooper	...	Gus (segment "Allen Hughes")
Blake Lively	...	Girlfriend (segment "Brett Ratner")
Robin Wright Penn	...	Anna (segment "Yvan Attal")
Orlando Bloom	...	David (segment "Shunji Iwai")
Christina Ricci	...	Camille (segment "Shunji Iwai")
Hayden Christensen	...	Ben (segment "Jiang Wen")
Rachel Bilson	...	Molly (segment "Jiang Wen")
Ethan Hawke	...	Writer (segment "Yvan Attal")
Justin Bartha	...	Sarah's Boyfriend (Transitions)
John Hurt	...	Waiter (segment "Shekhar Kapur")
James Caan	...	Mr. Riccoli (segment "Brett Ratner")
Eva Amurri	...	Sarah (Transitions)
Drea de Matteo	...	Lydia (segment "Allen Hughes")
Chris Cooper	...	Alex (segment "Yvan Attal")
Maggie Q	...	Call Girl (segment "Yvan Attal")
Andy Garcia	...	Garry (segment "Jiang Wen")
Cloris Leachman	...	Mitzie (segment "Joshua Marston")
Olivia Thirlby	...	Actress (segment "Brett Ratner")
Eli Wallach	...	Abe (segment "Joshua Marston")
Julie Christie	...	Isabelle (segment "Shekhar Kapur")
Jacinda Barrett	...	Maggie
Burt Young	...	Landlord (segment "Fatih Akin")
Qi Shu	...	Chinese herbalist
Taylor Geare	...	Teya (segment "Natalie Portman")
Irrfan Khan	...	Mansuhkhbai (segment "Mira Nair")
Emilie Ohana	...	Zoe - the Video Artist
Ugur Yücel	...	Painter (segment "Fatih Akin")
Ashley Klein	...	Prom girl (segment "Brett Ratner")
Sinsu Co	...	Mystery Bar Girl (segment "Allen Hughes")
Eliezer Meyer	...	Grand Rabbi Elli (segment "Mira Nair")
Jordann Beal	...	Prom girl (segment "Brett Ratner")
Gary Cherkassky	...	Skater Punk (segment "Joshua Marston")
Richard Chang	...	Mr. Su (Transitions)
Cesar De León	...	Dominican (segment "Natalie Portman")
Gurdeep Singh	...	Badal (Transitions)
Amy Raudenbush	...	Mom #1 (segment "Natalie Portman")
Carlos Acosta	...	Dante (segment "Natalie Portman")
Loukas Papas	...	Pizza Patron - Transitions
Juri Henley-Cohn	...	Ali (Transitions)
Duane Nakia Cooper	...	Haitian Cab Driver - Transitions
Vedant Gokhale	...	Cab Driver (Transitions)
Eddie D'vir	...	Rabbi (segment "Mira Nair")
Jeff Chena	...	Bartender (segment "Jiang Wen")
Robert d Scott	...	Du-Rag (Transitions)
Andy Karl	...	Evan (Transitions)
Simon Dasher	...	Guitarist (Transitions)
Adam Moreno	...	DJ Blue (segment "Brett Ratner")
Himad Beg	...	Indian Man (Transitions)
Adam S. Phillips	...	Jogger - Transitions
Aron Charach	...	Young Hasid (segment "Mira Nair")
Brad Naprixas	...	Hassid in Wedding (segment "Mira Nair")

Also Known As:

New York, je t'aime (France) (literal title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexual content.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | Russian | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45093) | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Vivendi Entertainment

Trivia:

James Caan and Andy Garcia play Sonny Corleone and his illegitimate son Vincent respectively in the "Godfather" series.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2009-10-17)" (2009)

diverting variety pack

The second installment in the I LOVE YOU series appears at first to be a mere variety-pack of sad-funny vignettes but occasionally it veers into territory explored by such other recent films as Paul Haggis's CRASH or Michael Hanecke's CODE INCONNU, wherein disparate inhabitants of a large city cross paths, not only affecting each other's lives in unexpected ways, but feeding into a larger overall story.

Most of these New York City stories manage to wrap up with a twist. This O. Henry-style surprise element is the structural key that gives several segments their sense of closure, especially in Yvan Attal's two-part entry about encounters between smokers outside a restaurant. In one encounter, Ethan Hawke as a fast-talking young writer brazenly tries to pick up a woman (Maggie Q) with unexpected results; in the other, Chris Cooper and Robin Wright Penn share some tantalizing conversation with an equally unexpected resolution.

Almost as good are a strange prom date between an awkward boy (Anton Yelchin) and the wheelchair-bound daughter (Olivia Thirlby) of an eccentric, pushy pharmacist (James Caan) and a slick bit wherein Hayden Christensen as a smart alecky pickpocket goes up against Andy Garcia as a college professor who turns the tables on him in the manner of Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall in the 1932 classic TROUBLE IN PARADISE.

Standing apart from all other segments is the lovely character study of a married couple (Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman) bickering gently as they walk to the seashore to commemorate their 63rd wedding anniversary – beautiful acting by two old masters.

In Allen Hughes's segment there is some excellent internal monologue writing by Alexandra Cassavetes and Stephen Winter about two insecure people on their way to their second date with each other, wonderfully enacted by Drea De Matteo and Bradley Cooper.

Other segments - including Mira Nair's with Natalie Portman as a Hassidic Jew momentarily smitten with a Jain diamond merchant (Irrfan Khan) on the eve of her wedding, and Shekhar Kapur's with Julie Christie as an aging singer who checks into an ethereal hotel staffed by a crippled Shia LeBouef and a haggard John Hurt – have their moments, but peter off into nowhere. Too bad the reunion of Christie and Hurt almost exactly 40 years after their only other co-starring film, IN SEARCH OF GREGORY, couldn't at least have shown them together clearly, from the front, in the same frame, just once.

Other than one episode in Brighton Beach and one in Chinatown, the action takes place in well-heeled sections of Manhattan. The black and Puerto-Rican population is barely represented, though the age range of subjects covers about 7 through about 90. The boroughs of the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island are ignored completely. Few of the stories concern themselves with themes or situations unique to New York. Most of them could just as easily take place in London or Berlin or Buenos Aires or Tokyo. But the rapidly shifting focus, the large and interesting cast and occasional sharp writing, keep one reasonably entertained despite the occasional misfires.