Sidewalks of New York

Edward Burns is the kind of writer/director whose movies make you feel like you definitely could be one of the characters.

The feelings, insecurities, confidence, etc. of the characters you can see and make connections throughout the movie because of the way it was filmed, as if it were a documentary. It gave the audience a more unique perspective than most romantic films. There was much less of the "meant for each other" bull that you see in most romantic comedies. The characters were believable without tending towards cynical. The best facet of the movie is that it allows the audience to draw their own conclusions about love, sex, and these relationships without pushing too hard the director/writer's ideals.

A good film, refreshingly real, but without the big important moments (transformation, change, when characters learn something, etc.) it is ultimately forgettable. This movie doesn't teach an audience anything it doesn't already know, it simply confirms/denies our own viewpoints on relationships. Edward Burns seemingly takes a camera to real life people and shows the all encompassing exterior of their relationships with their lovers.

The lives and lovees of 6 New Yorkers by writer/director Edward Burns.

Heather Graham plays an unhappily married woman whose husband, Stanley Tucci, is cheating on her with Brittaney Murphy who is 20 years his junior. Meanwhile, David Krumholtz is attracted to Murphy but she can;t dump Tucci. Also Graham is attracted to Edward Burns but won't cheat on her husband. Burns is attracted to her and Rosario Dawson who is Krumholtz's ex-wife. Got all that? Trust me...it plays out very well.

It's all talk about sex, love, sex, relationships, sex, marriage, sex...too much about sex, but it's all interesting and the characters are well-drawn and believable. The acting helps. Graham is just great; Tucci is so-so but OK; Murphy is interesting--she can be really good and really bad, but more good than bad; Burns is VERY handsome and appealing (if a bit whiny); Dawson is wonderful and Krumholtz is interesting. They all work well together (and separately) and really put the script across. Even when a really melodramatic whopper is thrown in towards the end, it works.

Only two complaints--it's too long (Tucci and Murphy complain about the same thing FIVE TIMES!!!) and it's all shot with a hand-held camera which is way too jittery and annoying--I realize Burns used it to keep down costs but still...

Absorbing and realistic...well worth catching.

Edward Burns once again shows that he's an excellent writer and this is a pretty good film about the relationships of several people. Each character is well drawn out and the dialogue is especially good. Burns has the characters look into the camera and talk about what's going on with them and what they are feeling like its a documentary. I'm not a big fan of this technique but it does work okay here. Brittany Murphy is very good and shows a lot of natural charm and Rosario Dawson has an interesting role. The only part that doesn't quite ring true is Stanley Tucci as the cheating husband. Why would anyone cheat on Heather Graham? But for the most part its an extremely well written film and all the actors are very good. Nothing elaborate but very honest. You have to appreciate it for that.

This is a very funny movie. The subject matter is near and dear to everyone's heart: Dating and relationships, marital or otherwise. The story centers around 6 main characters that are made to look like they're just regular people on the streets of New York. Each one is `interviewed' on the street about topics ranging from sex, dating and relationships. Then we see what each person's dating or marital life is like. Each of the 6 people's lives are intertwined somehow throughout the movie. A well done, well acted cross-section of the 6 people's love lives. Also, look for Dennis Farina's character. This guy had me rolling on the floor laughing; everything he said and did was funny to me. An enjoyable hour and a half. Highly recommended.

Heather Graham, in one of her better performances, and Dennis Farina as comedic relief, provide much of this film's minor merits.

Otherwise, it's a pretty cynical exercise, and the device of having the characters talk to an unseen interviewer is made doubly annoying by the fact that the characters' observations are banal and uninteresting (the device was used to great effect in a French movie A Pornographic Affair).

I found all the male characters to be thoroughly unsympathetic, ranging from pathetic (the doorman), totally lacking in introspection (Burns), and venal (Tucci). While I'm sure Burns would say the point was to show how screwed-up men can be, I don't think it does anybody any favours to repeatedly depict men stalking and showing up unannounced to exes and flames' apartments/houses. Reinforces that this is somewhat understandable and normal behaviour.

And, aside from the one couple (perhaps), these characters' dwellings are preposterous given their station in life, unless we're to believe they all have large trust funds.