Review of The Only Living Boy in New York (2017) by Raphaelrene — 11 Mar 2018

This extremely uneven but entertaining pic features nice work by Jeff Bridges as a hard-drinking spiritual guide (a part that perhaps only he could pull off with a semblance of credibility) and surprisingly subtle work by Pierce Brosnan as the film reaches it climax.

Cynthia Nixon and Kate Beckinsale are engaging and hit the right notes in underwritten parts. Callum Turner as the confused twentysomething lead who falls in love with his father’s mistress is effective in a role that doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Turner nails the indecisive, conflicted, privileged only child struggling to find his own path and makes you believe that there is innocence beneath the jaded, world-weary mask of a New York City adolescent but he is undercut by a twist late in the movie that shifts the story to the grown-ups.

It’s really not his movie. It’s a coming of age story for middle-aged baby boomers who made the wrong choices a generation ago. If the film had started out with that premise, it would have been a much more original and interesting story.