Review of New York, New York (1977) by Mitchell W — 18 Oct 2007
Worth seeing at least once, but it can be pretty tedious. Absolutely gorgeous production, it's really cool to see a movie from 1977 mimicking the classic musicals of the Golden Age with what may have been the original MGM sets and decor.
You can definitely understand Scorsese's own evaluation of this picture - trying too many things, etc. Much improvisation was allegedly done, and it definitely feels like it was shot that way. It's cool to see that in a film of this scope and budget - it's an amusing contrast between a glamorous backdrop and a method usually attributed to grittier films by someone like Cassavetes - but the results are still tedious.
The improvisation just isn't good and it feels as artificial as the old-fashioned Hollywood musicals of the Golden Age, but in different way; the seams show too much, and it really feels like actors doing an improv exercise because the exchanges rarely achieve a natural flow.
Visually it's a tour-de-force, and it has one killer tune in the title-cut, but the picture never gels together, never takes flight.
This review of New York, New York (1977) was written by Mitchell W on 18 Oct 2007.
New York, New York has generally received positive reviews.
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