Review of New York Stories (1989) by Alex S — 02 Oct 2015

Good idea but uneven execution.

The concept: three of the greatest movie directors the world has known, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, are each given a 35-40 minute segment to make a mini-movie set in New York. The three segments are not connected in any way. The result is New York Stories.

The movie starts with Scorsese's segment, titled "Life Lessons". A famous artist, Lionel Dobie (played by Nick Nolte), is in love with the artist he is mentoring, Paulette (played by Rosanna Arquette). However, the feeling is not mutual...

Coppola's segment, "Life without Zoe", involves a young girl, Zoe (played by Heather McComb) and her privileged-yet-parentless life.

Woody Allen's segment, "Oedipus Wrecks", completes the movie. A NY lawyer, Sheldon Mills (played by Woody Allen), is constantly being embarrassed by his aging mother. Then one evening he takes her to a magic show and things take a turn for the bizarre...

The Scorsese contribution was interesting, with a nice twist at the end. Did seem to in circles occasionally, and didn't move forward at any great pace, but the interactions between the characters was engaging.

Coppola's segment was easily the worst of the three. Silly and pointless. It feels like it was made for kids, which, if it was, is starkly out of place with the clearly adult-orientated Scorsese and Allen portions. And even kids will probably find it silly and boring...

Woody Allen's piece was the pick of the bunch. It displays Allen's sublimely clever, dry wit plus adds a large dollop of the ridiculous. Very funny at times with a twist that is quite bizarre. Nice-bizarre, though it does border on the silly.

7/10s for the Allen and Scorsese portions, 3/10 for Coppola.