New York, New York
Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese teams with Academy Award winners Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro in this splashy, flashy musical spectacle celebrating the glorious days of the Big Band Era in the Big Apple! Jimmy is a joint-jumpin' saxophonist on his way to stardom. Francine is a wannabe starlet who dreams of singing in the spotlight. When they meet, sparks fly – and when he plays and she sings, they set New York on fire! It's the beginning of a stormy relationship, as the two struggle to balance their passions for music and each other under the pressures of big-time show biz.
Member Reviews
De Niro surprisingly ruins this. - estefan
Definitely Martin Scorsese's second-weakest effort, there are elements to make this a strong work, but there is one key component that stops it from doing so. Scorsese's strong visual eye and editing prowess is there on-screen and Liza Minnelli gives a great performance that helps in creating a believable character. The shining moment of New York, New York is in the final forty minutes. While before that it's a standard show-biz story, it's at that point where it becomes a superbly constructed musical extravaganza that feels like Scorsese's passion was really to make a flat-out musical homage to the genre's golden age. However, as I said, there's one element that pretty much kills the film and it's a shocking one: Robert De Niro. This is a monumentally annoying performance with every tick and delivery getting on my nerves. It's a surprisingly bad job from early De Niro and it's not helped by how one-dimensional his character is. There's no motivation for his actions and as such, lacks any necessary depth. There's a great film in here, but it's ruined by the lead character.A dark take on 1940's and 50's musicals. - secondtimevirgin
The reviewer who complained that the movie should have been funny really really missed the mark on this one.
This is a quintessentially Martin Scorsese take on the genre. References to the grandiose and flashy technicolor musicals in the context of gritty and realistic spousal abuse, male chauvinism, etc. achieves a strange juxtaposition.Start Spreading the News... - wetspot
...that this film is a bloated, pointless exercise in self-indulgence. I rarely write reviews, but I was so disappointed in this film that I felt I had to warn the world.
Now I like musicals. And jazz. And Robert Deniro. And Liza Minelli. And Martin Scorcese. And I grant that the title track has rightfully become a musical standard. That said, this movie is a test of patience and ultimately a waste of time.
There are massive, expensive crowd scenes on massive, expensive sound stages that are underwhelming and unnecessary. Every piece of plot development takes roughly 5 times as long as it should. The dialogue is stilted, circuitous and awkward. DeNiro and Minelli have all the chemistry of kool-ade and soap.
But the capper for me is the decision to have DeNiro wander through the opening scenes of the film in a Hawaiian shirt when everyone else is dressed in 1940's garb. The effect is to make him look like Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) caught in the wrong film. His awkward, stilted conversation and 'screwball' antics thus come off as deeply MENACING when they should read as funny.
I can only chalk this film up to it being American cinema's cocaine period where EVERY visual and dramatic idea is deemed BRILLIANT and worthy of at least 7 minutes' screen time.
Lofty aims but a big bag of wind in the end.
Member Reviews
Read All...
De Niro surprisingly ruins this. - estefan
Definitely Martin Scorsese's second-weakest effort, there are elements to make this a strong work, but there is one key component that stops it from doing so. Scorsese's strong visual eye and editing prowess is there on-screen and Liza Minnelli gives a great ...A dark take on 1940's and 50's musicals. - secondtimevirgin
The reviewer who complained that the movie should have been funny really really missed the mark on this one.
This is a quintessentially Martin Scorsese take on the genre. References to the grandiose and flashy technicolor musicals in the context of ...Start Spreading the News... - wetspot
...that this film is a bloated, pointless exercise in self-indulgence. I rarely write reviews, but I was so disappointed in this film that I felt I had to warn the world.
Now I like musicals. And jazz. And Robert Deniro. And Liza Minelli. And Martin ...