SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground

I do regret a little that I bought it without seeing it first. Some people might really like the style of those short stories, others might not. People who tend to like reading short stories would definitely enjoy most of them.

If you are an (amateur) filmmaker yourself or have worked on low budget productions, I guess you would really appreciate it. Some of those stories are constructed very clever, it is amazing how they turned everyday situations into something special in so little time.

If you have happened to see the September 11 short stories you might know why I expected a little "more".

I love short story films, especially when, of one particular theme, they are connected to satisfy a feature length running time.

Like taking any subway/underground/metro train, with Subway Stories, if you don't like one particular story, wait a few minutes and a better one will come along.

Of course everyone will have their particular favourites, but for me

Fern's Heart of Darkness, Sax Cantor Riff, Manhattan Miracle, Love on the A Train, and Underground were simply original and wonderful.

I'm English and lived in London for four years so these types of stories are not exclusive to New York.

Where there are people, there are possibilities.

HBO held a contest asking people to submit stories about stuff that happened on the New York subway system. This film is an anthology of the winning stories, each one with a different director.

On the whole, it's fairly mediocre. The majority of the stories aren't that remarkable. They mostly have a "hey, imagine that" kind of ring to them, but the sum of them all manages to be less than the parts.

Bob Balaban gets the best story ("The 5:24"), which also manages to be the longest, with Jerry Stiller either being Steve Zahn's greatest opportunity or a complete con. Julie Dash has the most refreshingly unusual one.

I watched this because of Jonathan Demme's segment, and it's a serious disappointment. It's a very one-note little joke, that probably plays better if you are very amused by Bill Irwin. I'm not.

HBO started this out as a contest for people to submit stories of their real-life experiences on the New York City subway and then chose ten stories to put to this film. Some excellent actors and directors were chosen to perform in this film, which is a series of vignettes. As a result of all these talented people being involved, the film is very easy to take and sometimes entertaining. There are some moments of wit as well as a few moments of drama which are memorable. Also, "Subway Stories" creates a believable experience even in the midst of stories that sound improbable at times. None of the stories are all that bad. The trouble is that no part if this film is all that exciting or compelling. Maybe the problem is that there are so many stories that the viewer doesn't have the time to become involved in the characters and their problems. Also, many of the characters show little common sense and as a result, their dilemmas are exasperating. I suppose this is worth watching if one is intrigued by the idea. It's certainly painless to sit through. It's just that given the fascinating premise and the impressive array of talent gathered, it should have been much better.

Funny, poignant, attractively economical. Maybe the stories (and the subway scenes) are a touch sanitized but the whole thing works wondrously. It sometimes reminds you of "Smoke" - very high praise. Loved the NYC tourist's game of recognizing the stations and character types.