New York Stories (1989)

A middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12 year old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three stories.

Directors:

Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola,

Writers:

Richard Price, Woody Allen,

Stars:

Woody Allen, Marvin Chatinover, Nick Nolte

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Allen	...	Sheldon (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Marvin Chatinover	...	Psychiatrist (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Mae Questel	...	Mother (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Mia Farrow	...	Lisa (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Molly Regan	...	Sheldon's Secretary (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Ira Wheeler	...	Mr. Bates (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Joan Bud	...	Board Member (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Jessie Keosian	...	Aunt Ceil (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Michael Rizzo	...	Waiter (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
George Schindler	...	Shandu, The Magician (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Bridgit Ryan	...	Rita (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Larry David	...	Theater Manager (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Paul Herman	...	Detective Flynn / Clifford the Doorman / Cop (segments "Life Lessons" - "Life without Zoe" - "Oedipus Wrecks")
Herschel Rosen	...	Store Clerk (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Lola André	...	Citizen (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")

Storyline

A middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12 year old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three stories.

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Plot Keywords:

12 year old | artist | hotel | terrier | clairvoyant | 

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Taglines:

One City. Three Stories Tall.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 March 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Historias de Nueva York

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$10,763,469 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Feature film debuts of Kirsten Dunst and Adrien Brody.

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Quotes

Lionel Dobie: I have to pick up my sister at the airport. I don't know why she can't take a cab like everybody else.

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Connections

References Michael (1924)

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Soundtracks

"Bolero De Django"
Written by Django Reinhardt
Performed by The Hot Club of France with Django Reinhardt & Stéphane Grappelli
Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc., Special Markets Division

User Reviews

Could've been better, but still

In New York Stories, three segments are shown back to back, and they are all engaging in their own ways however it's only 2/3 successful as a total motion picture. Martin Scorsese's Life Lessons is a good example of what caliber of work Scorsese had when he made those three student films in the 1960's. It is a film that has a lot of depth, but it is quite worth it for fans of the actors and those who could get interested in Richard Price's story.

Coppola, director of THE GODFATHER and APOCALYPSE NOW makes Life Without Zoe here, a film that is 180 degrees out of whack from those two movies in that it tells the story of a little rich girl whose best friend is a doorman and revolves around a rich boy's birthday party. In a way, it almost could appeal to kids, but it's the wrong place to put in between a story of artists by Scorsese and a comedy of mother and son troubles by Allen.

Which brings me to the last short film, Oedipus Wrecks, where Woody plays a character whose mother suddenly out of the blue disappears. This is a good showing of what Woody can do in comedy without having to have a picture length presentation (not that he makes many bad films by the way).

So, New York Stories is worth checking out for Life Lessons and Oedipus Wrecks, and there could be an audience somewhere for Life Without Zoe, although the biggest flaw of the movie comes that neither one can connect at all outside of the fact that they all take place in New York and are made by New York directors- in short- fascinating and imperfect in some ways. B+