New York, I Love You
New York, I Love You is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama anthology film consisting of eleven short films, each by a different director. The shorts all relate in some way to the subject of love, and are set among the five boroughs of New York City. The film is a sequel of sorts to the 2006 film Paris, je t'aime, which had the same structure, and is the second installment in the Cities of Love franchise, created and produced by Emmanuel Benbihy. Unlike Paris, je t'aime, the shorts of New York, I Love You all have a unifying thread, of a videographer who films the other characters.
The film stars an ensemble cast, among them Bradley Cooper, Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Anton Yelchin, Hayden Christensen, Orlando Bloom, Irrfan Khan, Rachel Bilson, Chris Cooper, Andy García, Christina Ricci, John Hurt, Cloris Leachman, Robin Wright, Julie Christie, Maggie Q, Ethan Hawke, James Caan, Shu Qi and Eli Wallach.
New York, I Love You premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008, and was released in the United States on October 16, 2009. While the TIFF premiere of the film featured 14 novellas, distributors later decided to cut two of them: Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut and Andrei Zvyagintsev's novella "Apocrypha". The decision was taken after a focus screening in New York, where these two shorts were met with unfavorable reactions.
Cast and crew
Following is the cast and crew of ten segments of New York, I Love You with the transition segment directed by Randy Balsmeyer:| Segment | Director | Writer | Actors |
| 1 | Jiang Wen | Hu Hong & Meng Yao Adaptation: Israel Horovitz | Hayden Christensen as Ben Andy García as Garry Rachel Bilson as Molly |
| 2 | Mira Nair | Suketu Mehta | Natalie Portman as Rifka Malone Irrfan Khan as Mansuhkhbai |
| 3 | Shunji Iwai | Adaptation: Israel Horovitz | Orlando Bloom as David Cooler Christina Ricci as Camille |
| 4 | Yvan Attal | Olivier Lecot | Maggie Q as Janice Taylor Ethan Hawke as Writer Chris Cooper as Alex Robin Wright Penn as Anna |
| 5 | Brett Ratner | Jeff Nathanson | Anton Yelchin as Boy James Caan as Mr. Riccoli Olivia Thirlby as Actress Blake Lively as Gabrielle DiMarco |
| 6 | Allen Hughes | Xan Cassavetes & Stephen Winter | Bradley Cooper as Gus Drea de Matteo as Lydia |
| 7 | Shekhar Kapur | Anthony Minghella | Julie Christie as Isabelle John Hurt as Bellhop Shia LaBeouf as Jacob |
| 8 | Natalie Portman | Natalie Portman | Taylor Geare as Teya Carlos Acosta as Dante Jacinda Barrett as Maggie |
| 9 | Fatih Akın | Fatih Akın | Uğur Yücel as Painter Shu Qi as Chinese herbalist Burt Young as Landlord |
| 10 | Joshua Marston | Joshua Marston | Eli Wallach as Abe Cloris Leachman as Mitzie |
| transitions | Randy Balsmeyer | Hall Powell, Israel Horovitz & James Strouse | Emilie Ohana as Zoe, the Video Artist Eva Amurri as Sarah Justin Bartha as Justin |
Reception
Critical response
The film has received mixed reviews from critics, holding a 49/100 rating on Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Rotten Tomatoes reports a 37% approval based on 99 reviews, with an average score of 5.02/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Like many anthologies, New York, I Love You has problems of consistency, but it isn't without its moments".Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B regarding the film "takes the wrinkle-free, easy-travel concept first executed in the 2007 Gallic compilation Paris, je t'aime to a new city and styles itself..." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 stars saying in his review, "By its nature, "New York, I Love You" can't add up. It remains the sum of its parts." A. O. Scott of The New York Times gave the film a mixed review claiming "Not that the 11 shorts in New York, I Love You are all that bad. It's a nice-looking city, after all, even if the interstitial skyline and traffic montages assembled by Randy Balsmeyer are about as fresh as the postcards on sale in Times Square." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post gave the film 1 star claiming "there were two additional segments that have since been cut. So you'll have to wait for the DVD to see just how bad Scarlett Johansson's directing debut is."
Erica Abeel of The Hollywood Reporter writes "New York, I Love You continues the Cities of Love series that began with Paris, je t'aime far surpassing it. The vignettes are tied together into a single feature through a recurrent character, a videographer who interacts with the other characters. And transitional elements -- choreographed by 11th director Randy Balsmeyer -- move the viewer from one world to another, uniting all these intimate stories into a single shimmering fabric." "With younger, less-tested directing talent, the film plays down the delineation between one director's work and another, opting to blend them through loosely interconnected characters here and there. As opposed to its directing roster, however, the cast boasts quite a few big names, all of which lend a surprising amount of authenticity to these funny, imaginative little stories," explains Heidi Patalano of Metro New York giving the film a 4 grade out of 5. Claudia Puig of USA Today explains that anthologies are by their very nature an uneven entity and adds "The multicultural emphasis - both in characters and in the unusual selection and collaboration of filmmakers and artists - is one of New York, I Love You's main assets. And there's no question that Manhattan looks ever-vibrant and beautiful."