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Sidewalks of New York
***
Cinema Releases - April 5, 2002
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 15. 107
minutes. Written and directed by Edward Burns. Starring Edward Burns, Rosario
Dawson, Dennis Farina, Heather Graham, David Krumholtz, Brittany Murphy,
Stanley Tucci.
"Sidewalks of New York" features
Ed Burns chatting up his real estate agent, played by Heather Graham, while
having an on-off relationship with a schoolteacher played by Rosario Dawson.
Graham's husband is a scumbag dentist played by Stanley Tucci, who's having
a strictly physical affair with a waitress played by Brittany Murphy. David
Krumholtz plays an awkward young doorman/musician who chats up Murphy, although
he was married to Dawson not too long ago, and still hasn't quite recovered
from the divorce.
This movie -- another low-key romantic comedy
directed by Burns, who made "The Brothers McMullen" and "She's the One" --
shows us mere snapshots of these characters' lives, but it does not feel
sketchy. The women are not desperate to be swept off their feet, the men
are neither completely charming nor obvious doofuses -- these are people
with real needs and useful strengths, neither as stupid nor as brilliant
as they would be in most romantic comedies, and certainly not existing to
be functions of the plot. Burns's use of dialogue and settings creates the
feeling that these people have real lives, jobs and families -- they have
other concerns than romance, and seem to live and breathe beyond what we
see of them onscreen.
Burns employs one silly device in the film, having
his characters talk to the camera at certain points, making reference to
the fact that they're in a documentary. What's the point? We know they're
not, we can see that they're not, and they're in places a documentary crew
would not have access to, saying things they would not say to a camera. Other
than the interview scenes, Burns does a good job -- his handheld camerawork
and curt, New Wave cutting are absorbing. We feel like we're hanging
around the characters -- glancing, eavesdropping, moving on.
"Sidewalks of New York" reminded me of the work
of my favourite living director, Woody Allen. It's not that the characters
have ironic discussions about the arts or go on about existential philosophy,
but the movie has a similarly witty and curious approach to romance, and
the movement of its camera savours New York City with understated affection.
This is a work of charm, sweetness and ease.
COPYRIGHT©
2002 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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