Directed by Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Brett Ratner, Randall Balsmeyer, Shekhar Kapur, and Natalie Portman.Five Stars.
New York, I Love You is the follow up effort from the producers of the much-loved Paris, Je t'Aime / Paris, I Love You (2006). It follows the lives of several New Yorkers and visitors of the city whose lives are interconnected in various ways. Like it’s predecessor, this film is collage of short vignettes directed by different art-house auteurs. I will admit, I didn’t revisit Paris, Je t’Aime before viewing this latest feature. Perhaps that was a good thing. Whereas, in the previous film Paris was a character in itself, in New York, I Love You it felt less so. In this sort of city-focused project that's something that you really miss. But perhaps it’s not fair to compare the two films. The use of big names in the ensemble was also a little distracting giving the film a He's Just Not That Into You (2009) feel at times. And despite the abundance of talent on hand the whole project just feels a like lacklustre. There is still enough to enjoy in this film. Natalie Portman is excellent as Rifka, a Hasidic diamond buyer who falls in love with a Hindu jeweller (Irrfan Khan). Ethan Hawke is very amusing as a lustful writer. There is also a very sweet story with Anton Yelchin as a young boy who agrees to take his pharmacist’s (James Caan) paraplegic daughter (Olivia Thirlby) to this high school prom. One major disappointment, is the transition between the different story segments which was often very blunt, making the film feel ‘patchy.’ Overall, New York, I Love You felt like a cheap Americanised version of a great film.
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