Hi-Life in Manhattan

Most people love big budgeted Christmas comedies, and here in Italy we have the tradition of the cine-panettoni, alas Christmas comedies that have lots of slapstick humour and crazy situations. I like them occasionally, but last May I found Hi-Life on a streaming site and since it stars some actors I like, I knew I had to see it.

Jimmy (Eric Stoltz) is a failed actor that hopes to have the audition of his life and along with that, he needs 900 $ for clearing a gambling debt but Ray (Campbell Scott) tries to raise the cash from various friends of his that owe him money. Jimmy is desperate: he tries to shoot a robber he met with a friend on their way home, he asks for help to his former girlfriend Maggie (Daryl Hannah) but in the end, he will end unscathed and the 900 dollar bill will be illusory.

So, while it's not a big budgeted Christmas comedy, is it worth seeing? Yes for the most part. The performances by Stoltz, Hannah and Scott were good and it was nice seeing veteran Charles Durning with his usual crusty old man routine. The situations were a bit absurd but funny considering the setting, and I related to most of the characters. And besides, it has the usual feel good nature of many Christmas movies.

I recommend it, but I have some piece of trivia as well: not only Daryl Hannah did a cine-panettone in Italy in 2006, but she also put a like on my comment on one of her posts on her Instagram page.

This has to be, to my knowledge, the only christmas/abortion comedy ever made. Featuring splendid performances by Charles Durning as a hen-pecked love lorn bar owner, Eric Stoltz as the self-absorbed actor, and Campbell Scott as the bitter ex of Daryl Hannah, this film continually surprised and delighted me. Filmed in New York City by John Thomas (of Whit Stillman and "Sex in the City" fame) the city has never looked crisper or more inviting. The plot is wacky- a subplot involving two wacky ambulance drivers is particularly silly- but also has a wandering tone that careers from touching to bizarre, in the way that all good independent films do. Featuring the angriest Jewish santa clause ever filmed, rousingly played by Dean Cameron of "Ski School" fame. Worth a look!

"Hi-Life" is no Christmas blockbuster. It's a small, rewarding treat of a Christmas-in-NYC movie, and it's one of the few holiday movies I love to see every year. It's a slice-of-life (well, slice-of-one-night, really) film full of small, everyday characters, written smartly and played by first-rate character actors. The NYC setting is warm, colorful and nostalgic without being dated in the least... kind of like New York itself (okay, like some parts of NYC). So: if you don't enjoy that sort of thing, if you've gotta have big-name glamour, special effects, knee-slapping jokes, car crashes or heavy,"message" drama in order not to be bored - avoid this film. P.S., if you miss living in and hanging out around New York, see it, especially during the holidays.

Daryl Hannah's character complains about her ex-boyfriend idolizing her: "He thinks I'm an angel. (pause) It got to be a f-cking bore." If that didn't make you laugh, avoid this film. If it did make you laugh, there are certainly other films that would be funnier to you.

Hi-life is a complicated tale of friends and acquaintances trying to outwit and bamboozle each other over a gambling debt only a few are privy to. Each of the finely scripted characters gets drawn into the conspiracy for their own reasons, being deceived by the previous conspirator yet remaining unaware of the others. Taking place one evening in a nondescript New York neighborhood, it's the tale of ordinary people living mundane lives complicated by love, hate, ego, and chicanery, yet each are a charming mixture of goodness and banality much like every one of us. The complicated plot comes together at closing time in the Hi-Life Bar where all the characters meet and their deceptions are revealed. The script is witty, the acting is first rate, and one hates to see the story end.