New York, I Love You (2008)

Eleven love stories set in one of the most loved and hated cities of the world, New York City.

Directors:

Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal

Writers:

Hu Hong (segment), Yao Meng (segment) (as Meng Yao)

Stars:

Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Bradley Cooper

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hayden Christensen	...	Ben (segment "Jiang Wen")
Andy Garcia	...	Garry (segment "Jiang Wen")
Rachel Bilson	...	Molly (segment "Jiang Wen")
Natalie Portman	...	Rifka (segment "Mira Nair")
Irrfan Khan	...	Mansukhbhai (segment "Mira Nair")
Orlando Bloom	...	David (segment "Shunji Iwai")
Christina Ricci	...	Camille (segment "Shunji Iwai")
Maggie Q	...	Call Girl (segment "Yvan Attal")
Ethan Hawke	...	Writer (segment "Yvan Attal")
Chris Cooper	...	Alex (segment "Yvan Attal")
Robin Wright	...	Anna (segment "Yvan Attal") (as Robin Wright Penn)
Anton Yelchin	...	Boy (segment "Brett Ratner")
James Caan	...	Mr. Riccoli (segment "Brett Ratner")
Olivia Thirlby	...	Actress (segment "Brett Ratner")
Blake Lively	...	Ex-Girlfriend (segment "Brett Ratner")

Storyline

Eleven vignettes, all homages to New York City life, are presented. I. Ben (Hayden Christensen), a pickpocket, is attracted to Molly (Rachel Bilson) at first sight, and gets into an interesting "pissing match" with Molly's married lover, New York University professor Garry (Andy Garcia). II. Mansuhkhbai (Irrfan Khan), an orthodox Jain diamond wholesaler, and Rifka (Natalie Portman), an orthodox Jewish diamond retailer who is getting married tomorrow, learn that they have more in common than just diamonds. III. David (Orlando Bloom), a musician and music editor for a video being directed by Abarra, is having problems meeting Abarra's demands while he slowly falls for Abarra's assistant, Camille (Christina Ricci), who he's never met, but has only talked to on the telephone solely about work. IV. A young man believes he's made a powerful connection to a stranger, a young woman, in the simple act of lighting her cigarette, and proceeds to convince her of the same and as such that there is...

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Plot Keywords:

central park | chrysler building | empire state building | grand central station | lincoln center for the performing arts | 

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Taglines:

every moment another story begins

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexual content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Cantonese Gujarati Yiddish

Release Date:

16 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

New York, je t'aime

Filming Locations:

Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,700,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$380,776, 18 October 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,585,859, 20 December 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vivendi Entertainment, Ever So Close, Visitor Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is one of two 2008 movies in which Sir John Hurt and Shia LaBeouf appeared. The other being Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).

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Goofs

Natalie Portman's character, while discussing the rules of kosher, states she cannot eat "nothing that's not blessed by a rabbi." This is a common error - the production of kosher food is overseen by a rabbi, but the final products are not blessed.

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Quotes

Writer: [after lighting her cigarette] We share a flame, thousands of tiny molecules are heating up right now, they're penetrating our brain. Alright, they're stimulating our sexual desire. I mean, I don't know about you, but I find that shit very romantic. And you know, I'm so glad you walked over here because now I can feel a little bit more comfortable to tell you that I happen to be on the forefront of men able to find and locate a woman's G-spot, and I could - I could do that for you.
Call Girl: [...]

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Alternate Versions

When the title was shown at Toronto Film Festival it included two additional segments These Vagabond Shoes and Apocrypha, these were removed for the wide release but are included in the DVD extras.

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Connections

Follows Je t'aime (2007)

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Soundtracks

Tian Ya Ge Nu
("The Wandering Songstress")
Performed by Xuan Zhou
Courtesy of EMI (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Under License from EMI Film & TV Music
Written by Han Tian and Lu-Ting He
Published by EMI Blackwood Music, Inc. (BMI)

User Reviews

diverting variety pack

The second installment in the I LOVE YOU series appears at first to be a mere variety-pack of sad-funny vignettes but occasionally it veers into territory explored by such other recent films as Paul Haggis's CRASH or Michael Hanecke's CODE INCONNU, wherein disparate inhabitants of a large city cross paths, not only affecting each other's lives in unexpected ways, but feeding into a larger overall story.

Most of these New York City stories manage to wrap up with a twist. This O. Henry-style surprise element is the structural key that gives several segments their sense of closure, especially in Yvan Attal's two-part entry about encounters between smokers outside a restaurant. In one encounter, Ethan Hawke as a fast-talking young writer brazenly tries to pick up a woman (Maggie Q) with unexpected results; in the other, Chris Cooper and Robin Wright Penn share some tantalizing conversation with an equally unexpected resolution.

Almost as good are a strange prom date between an awkward boy (Anton Yelchin) and the wheelchair-bound daughter (Olivia Thirlby) of an eccentric, pushy pharmacist (James Caan) and a slick bit wherein Hayden Christensen as a smart alecky pickpocket goes up against Andy Garcia as a college professor who turns the tables on him in the manner of Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall in the 1932 classic TROUBLE IN PARADISE.

Standing apart from all other segments is the lovely character study of a married couple (Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman) bickering gently as they walk to the seashore to commemorate their 63rd wedding anniversary – beautiful acting by two old masters.

In Allen Hughes's segment there is some excellent internal monologue writing by Alexandra Cassavetes and Stephen Winter about two insecure people on their way to their second date with each other, wonderfully enacted by Drea De Matteo and Bradley Cooper.

Other segments - including Mira Nair's with Natalie Portman as a Hassidic Jew momentarily smitten with a Jain diamond merchant (Irrfan Khan) on the eve of her wedding, and Shekhar Kapur's with Julie Christie as an aging singer who checks into an ethereal hotel staffed by a crippled Shia LeBouef and a haggard John Hurt – have their moments, but peter off into nowhere. Too bad the reunion of Christie and Hurt almost exactly 40 years after their only other co-starring film, IN SEARCH OF GREGORY, couldn't at least have shown them together clearly, from the front, in the same frame, just once.

Other than one episode in Brighton Beach and one in Chinatown, the action takes place in well-heeled sections of Manhattan. The black and Puerto-Rican population is barely represented, though the age range of subjects covers about 7 through about 90. The boroughs of the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island are ignored completely. Few of the stories concern themselves with themes or situations unique to New York. Most of them could just as easily take place in London or Berlin or Buenos Aires or Tokyo. But the rapidly shifting focus, the large and interesting cast and occasional sharp writing, keep one reasonably entertained despite the occasional misfires.