Review of New York, I Love You (2008) by Jillian L — 31 May 2013

So, I actually was planning on watching Paris, je t'aime last night, but then I realized I left my copy of it at school, so I went with this one instead. And it was pretty decent. The individual storylines are interesting, and I enjoy the impressive ensemble of actors.

My problem is the structure of the movie itself. There are two ways you can go. Have a the storylines continuously filter and intersect one another (ex. Valentine's Day) or you can have a series of shorts, one after the other, and the movie be a compilation of the shorts.

The problem here is that they tried to do a mixture of both. Some vignettes stood totally alone, and you never saw the characters again, and others weaved in and out of each other. Then they tried to tie everything in together at the end, but it didn't quite work.

So, what I really wanted was consistency. That being said, I did like the majority of the individual stories. I particularly liked the one of the guy bringing a girl to the park (which was written and directed by Natalie Portman, so good for her) the couple taking a walk on their anniversary (I cried), and the boy in the park segment with Anton Yelchin.

The one in the hotel with Shia LaBeouf, John Hurt, and Julie Christie was the one that stood out like a sore thumb. It was interesting enough on its own (albeit a little confusing) but it was stylistically miles apart from what every other story was doing.

Overall, despite its inconsistencies, it is pleasant and cute enough to deserve a watch.