Review of New York, I Love You (2008) by Cinema F — 12 May 2010

A collection of short films that add up to one long love letter to the City of New York (well, Manhattan mostly), New York, I Love You turns out not to love the actual city so much as it does the version of it we know from the movies. Which is a bit of a drawback -- after all, unless you're Quentin Tarantino there's only so much you can do with a movie about other movies.

Fortunately, the 11 short films that make up this feature are short enough to function mostly as idealised romantic snapshots. There sure are a lot of twist endings and surprise in these short stories, but hitting the reset button every eight minutes or so does keep events slightly fresh.

Highlights include a look at the aftermath of a one-night stand starring Bradley Cooper, action director Brett Ratner's tale of a prom date with a twist, and Natalie Portman who also directs another of the shorts as an orthodox Jew who strikes up a relationship with a diamond merchant.

What this film does have is a star power and plenty of it. The cast includes Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, John Hurt, Shia LaBeouf, Eli Wallach, Cris Cooper and Hayden Christensen.

As part of a franchise -- there's already been one instalment set in Paris, with more planned around the globe-- here's hoping that as the concept moves down the list of cities it finds locations (and stories) that feel a little fresher than these.