Wears out its welcome fast because of its artistic pretensions and self-absorbed characters.
Sidewalks of New York (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:91
Fresh:51
Rotten:40
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Though well-acted, Sidewalks of New York generally comes off as a second-rate Woody Allen film. The characters seem self-absorbed, the problems trite.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: An intricate web of relationships is examined by Ed Burns (THE BROTHERS McMULLEN, SHE'S THE ONE) in SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK. Burns, who also wrote and produced the film, stars as Tommy Reilly, a boy... An intricate web of relationships is examined by Ed Burns (THE BROTHERS McMULLEN, SHE'S THE ONE) in SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK. Burns, who also wrote and produced the film, stars as Tommy Reilly, a boy from Queens turned successful Manhattanite. After being kicked out of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend, he is back in the dating scene. When he meets a divorced schoolteacher (Rosario Dawson), the connections between the additional main characters in the ensemble--played by Stanley Tucci, Heather Graham, Brittany Murphy, and David Krumholz--are identified slowly but surely: a divorced couple, an adulterous married man and his mistress, and a doubting wife. Burns' look at relationships leaves no stone unturned as the main characters and their friends discuss their love lives. Filmed throughout New York City, the characters' stories are spliced together by their own personal monologues in documentary-style scenes. Well-delivered, witty, and humorous banter that is reminiscent of the works of Woody Allen keeps the story moving, as does the shooting technique of following behind the characters with the camera. Tucci, in particular, delivers a standout performance as a two-timing, lecherous dentist. [More]
Starring: Stanley Tucci, Edward Burns, Rosario Dawson, Heather Graham
Starring: Stanley Tucci, Edward Burns, Rosario Dawson, Heather Graham, David Krumholtz, Dennis Farina, Leah Gray
Director: Edward Burns
Director: Edward Burns
Screenwriter: Edward Burns
Producer: Margot Bridger, Edward Burns, Rick Yorn, Cathy Schulman
Studio: Paramount Classics
Reviews for Sidewalks of New York
The film's low-key pace and mockumentary interviews give it plenty of charm.
After a while, you start wondering where this movie is going, and then it goes nowhere.
...manifests itself in ways that are uniquely, ironically, fondly, 100-percent New York.
Edward Burns is fast turning from American indie success story to bad Woody Allen imitation with his tired tales of Manhattan.
This kind of sophistication-lite may go down well with many viewers right now, but Sidewalks of New York isn't much more than a student film made by a talented amateur who's in over his head.
Like that other director-turned -wannabe- movie-star Quentin Tarantino, Burns is someone who would do himself a world of good if he would just admit that he's no actor.
Surely, after everything this city has been through, the time is right for a breezy, captivating New York romantic comedy. Sidewalks of New York is not an especially good movie, but it will do.
If I wanted to see Manhattan again, then I'd just stay home and rent it.
The characters in Sidewalks of New York look and move and self-deprecate like real humans, yet there's a lack of personalized obsession to their ticker-tape yearnings.
Burns, who started strong with The Brothers McMullen, has sunk deeper and deeper into irrelevancy with each succeeding film.
Probably the worst Woody Allen movie that Woody never made... it's supposed to charm our socks off but merely makes us grit our teeth in impatience and annoyance.
Burns needs to break into something new that doesn't revolve around love and lust.
A charming, low-key ensemble comedy that recalls the films of both John Cassavetes and Woody Allen.
It all feels terribly contrived, like something that Woody Allen could have written in a fitful sleep.
Slight but engaging, Sidewalks has the familiar feel of an old sweater.
Overall, there are some amusing moments, and Graham makes the most of her thankless role, but this one can wait for the video release.
The genre achieves inadvertent pathos via its own obscene irrelevance.
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