Cast: Edward Burns, Rosario Dawson, Dennis Farina, Heather Graham, David Krumholtz, Brittany Murphy, Stanley Tucci
Director: Edward Burns
Producers: Margot Bridger, Edward Burns, Cathy Schulman, Rick Yorn
Screenplay: Edward Burns
Cinematography: Frank Prinzi
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Classics
In 1995, Edward Burns took the independent film world by storm with his debut feature, the romantic comedy The Brothers McMullen. In addition to winning the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival, McMullen went on to become a modest art-house success, grossing about forty times what it cost to make. The strong performance of The Brothers McMullen allowed Burns to direct a film with a real budget (around $3.5 million) and a few big-name stars. The result, She's the One, was deservedly panned. Burns' third feature, No Looking Back, was no better received. Three years later, Burns is back, wearing four hats (actor/director/writer/producer) and trying to convince audiences that he has more than one worthwhile story to tell.
A viewer's opinion of Burns may affect the way he or she views Sidewalks of New York. Those who have enjoyed the filmmaker's previous efforts will likely see his latest as a witty and insightful look into the lives of six New Yorkers trying to make sense of their relationships. On the other hand, Burns' critics will label Sidewalks of New York as another tedious ego trip. The reality, as usual, is somewhere in between. Although the film contains moments of self-absorption and isn't as introspective as Burns would have us believe, it is a credible ensemble picture that does a good job presenting the characters and involving us in their world. Burns' dialogue has a natural, unforced rhythm that contains a fair number of wry one-liners that compensate for occasional bouts of triteness and pretentiousness. I left the theater glad to have seen the film, although not transported to some higher intellectual or spiritual plane.
Sidewalks of New York feels so strongly like a Woody Allen film that the sensation couldn't be coincidental. From the setting (Manhattan, where Allen lives and breathes) to the use of hand-held cameras to the focus on a group of neurotic characters who use humor to mask their insecurities, Sidewalks of New York obviously owes a strong debt to New York's most famous jazz-loving movie-maker. While nothing in Sidewalks of New York reaches the lofty heights of an Annie Hall or Manhattan, there are plenty of moments in this film that would slide comfortably into some of Allen's less acclaimed efforts.
The theatrical opening of Sidewalks of New York was a casualty of the September 11 attacks. Originally slated to be released in late September, the movie was pulled by its distributor, Paramount Pictures, because the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centers are very much in evidence during several scenes. To his credit, Burns did not digitally erase the buildings. They appear on screen as they did when they were filmed in the spring of 2001. Their presence is less likely to evoke a reaction of horror or sadness than it is to cause a pang of nostalgia.
The six characters in Sidewalks of New York are trapped in a romantic maze of their own making. Using faux documentary interview segments with the principals to frame the narrative segments, Burns seeks to make these stories seem more real and immediate. The gimmick works, primarily because there's an improvisational quality to these scenes (although I'm sure everything was carefully scripted and the guy in the background giving the finger was instructed to do so). Plus, it helps that most of the unseen interviewer's questions are about sex - a subject that few viewers will be bored by.
You practically need a scorecard to keep all the entanglements straight. Tommy (Burns) is a thirty-two year old TV show producer who has just been thrown out of his apartment by an irate girlfriend. He is immediately attracted to two women - Maria (Rosario Dawson), a school teacher, and Annie (Heather Graham), a realtor. Maria has just gotten her life together after going through a divorce, but her ex-husband, Ben (David Krumholtz), has begun stalking her, wondering if ending the marriage was a mistake. Although still hung up on his ex-wife, Ben is also attracted to Ashley (Brittany Murphy), a 19-year old waitress at the coffee shop he frequents. He asks her out, but she rebuffs him because she's involved with Griffin (Stanley Tucci), a middle-aged man with whom she's having an affair. Griffin, meanwhile, is married to Annie.
Most of Sidewalks of New York is a meditation on the differences between love and sex, whether romance is an illusion or reality, how we often want what we can't have, why some people fear commitment while others crave it, and other, similar subjects. The character interaction is refreshingly natural, even though several of the people Burns has chosen to portray (primarily the men) are a little too self-involved to be likable. There are at least three noteworthy performances. Tucci does an excellent job imbuing the callous Griffin with life, Brittany Murphy brings an unfeigned exuberance to Ashley, and Rosario Dawson allows us to forgive her participation in Josie and the Pussycats. Dennis Farina provides the movie's most overtly comic moments as Tommy's Casanova-like mentor, who has a few interesting ideas about cologne. Burns, normally better when directed by filmmakers other than himself, manages not to be annoying. The only dud in the cast is Heather Graham, whose lack of range keeps Annie from taking flight.
Once fertile territory for American independent films, this sort of ensemble relationship movie has fallen out of favor of late - even Allen isn't making these any more. Despite a few easily identifiable flaws, Sidewalks of New York is a breezy, enjoyable motion picture that manages to be smart without demanding our undivided attention. And, during a time when New York is in need of positive portrayals, this movie functions as a postcard to the city whose skyline has changed but whose essential character has not.
© 2001 James Berardinelli