Review of Naked in New York (1993) by Steph O — 18 Aug 2010

"Naked in New York" begins with the main character Jake (Eric Stoltz) sitting in his car, looking directly ahead and narrating as if the audience is the windshield. I liked that. The movie is essentially about a college graduate trying to make it in New York City, and keep his relationships intact at the same time.

As Jake tells us in his car-scenes, his father walked out when he was a baby, he had to look after his mother. She was very emotional. "Clearly, having no men around made me sensitive to women." he says. Jake is a playwright, telling the story of his life and his attempts to become successful. His friend Chris (Ralph Macchio) describes him as an "artsy New York jew". Chris is an actor and friend of Jake's. Unlike Jake he has a pretty normal family. From the beginning it seems as if Chris might have a bit of a thing for Jake, and they explore that a bit in the movie. Poor Chris. Mary-Louise Parker plays Joanne, a girl Jake meets at college who Chris calls a "whitebread WASP". When Joanne and Jake get series, she becomes a successful photographer.

In terms of the supporting cast there's Timothy Dalton as Elliot, a family friend who Joanne's mother tries to push on her. And who helps Joanne with her photography. Tony Curtis! As a producer of plays. Kathleen Turner as an actress. A pretty good cast really. So funny seeing a very young Mary Louise Parker, since I've only really seen her in Weeds. And in general I quite like Eric Stoltz. Naturally ever since "The Outsiders", I adore Ralph Macchio, the karate kid. "Naked in New York" is really just about Jake's life, his career, his relationships... It's occasionally funny. Interesting. Well-acted, well-written. A cool movie. About people. And life. Really, it isn't as boring as I'm probably making it sound. Decent 90s flick that I think is worth a watch, if you can get your hands on it.