I should've known what I was in for with this poster...

I’ve just returned from an incredibly enjoyable breakfast at The Smith with a good friend that I haven’t seen in some time.  We caught up a bit and discussed our lives in the city a couple years post-film school.  In our catching up, I told her about a screening I went to yesterday for the much anticipated film New York, I Love You. I felt that after a solid 15 hours after my viewing of this film, I’d be calm enough to discuss it rationally and gently encourage her to wait until it comes out on DVD before seeing it.  Instead, a certain rage and fury came flying out of my mouth along with flecks of my ham, Gruyère and egg brioche (okay, that last part was a lie – I just really wanted to relive my breakfast in any way possible). Riding on the success of Paris, Je T’aime, this collection of somewhat cohesive short films was expected to be vignettes of people’s lives accented by the essence and nuances of the city.  In some cases, it turned out to be a complete mockery of what Hollywood thinks this city is and in others, it may as well have been Random City in Middle America, I Love You.

May I also point out that there was no storyline featuring a black character? Or a gay character? Asian characters were only the most overused stereotypes – cab driver, hooker, laundromat owner.  The movie was shameless in its portrayal of New York.  Did a tourist make this film? At one point someone actually says, “This is why I love New York – moments like these.”  Unlike most feature length situations, this project has multiple directors and multiple writers to blame.  Brett Ratner (who was at the screening for a Q&A afterwards) was one of them.  His short was probably one of the most enjoyable – based on his real life high school prom night.  Though Ratner is an alumnus of NYU, he did his growing up in Miami so the original story is Floridian… other than the story taking place in New York and a rather unnecessary voiceover discussing how many drug stores there are in New York, there was nothing very New York about it.

Well, then what was I looking for, you might ask? If I’m going to complain so much, how would I have fixed it? Read more »