You can't really watch NEW YORK STORIES and comment on the
film as a whole, because, much like the three directors involved,
the three stories that make up the whole are so different and have
specific value in their own right. What you can do is applaud the
idea, the approach, and the coming together of three big New York
filmmakers to entertain and delight the viewer each in their unique
way.
Segment one is "Life Lessons", starring Nick Nolte and Rosanna
Arquette, and directed by Martin Scorsese. It's a superbly acted
and tightly directed little film about a cantankerous and love-lorn
old abstract painter and his young female "assistant", the object of
his rejected affections. Nolte and Arquette play off each with great
chemistry (often explosive at that) and the pacing, cinematography
and storyline flow easily creating a real sense of the chaotic inner- psychosis behind artist beauty. {It was also really interesting to
see the large canvas that is the centre-piece of the film take shape
from nothing to a real work of admirable art by the story's end.} 8/ 10 on this one.
The second segment, "Life Without Zoe", by Francis Ford Coppola
is, to put it frankly, horrible! Unbelievably boring, and so poorly
acted that I can only imagine Coppola himself had fallen asleep
somewhere in pre-production and was awakened when the film
was released sometime the next year. Coppola has a knack for
casting young girls with no experience and/or talent in his films
(ie., his daughter in GODFATHER III) and Heather McComb as Zoe
is no exception. I actually stopped it 10 minutes in and fast- forwarded to the last segment. 1/10, truly pitiful in every regard.
The gem of the compilation (and saving grace) comes in the final
segment, Woody Allen's hilarious "Oedipus Wrecks". This was
laugh-out-loud funny. Allen plays a middle-aged lawyer who's life
is made unbearable by his doting/nagging Jewish mother, played
brilliantly by Mae Questel. Not only is this the best piece of the
three shorts that make up NEW YORK STORIES, but one of the
very best of Woody Allen's films, period. The tight interactive
delivery between characters that has become so trademark in
Allen's films is served up so deliciously again by the likes of Julie
Kavner, Mia Farrow, Larry David, and the aforementioned mother &
son team. Every facial expression sported by Woody is a gut- buster as well (special mention goes to Jessie Keosian, as his
deaf Aunt Ceil, for the same reason). Witty, biting, and with one of
THE oddest plot twists I've ever seen, "Oedipus Wrecks" is the
icing on the cake, and a great ending to this film conjunction. 9/10,
has to be seen for the "chicken drumstick love-scene" if nothing
else!
Unfortunately, the film over-all is not an even delivery despite the
noble attempt. Scorsese and Allen shine with their spot-on stories
of intrinsic inhabitants of the Big Apple; Coppola just provides the
worm. I can only recommend portions of the film and as such can
only give it a 7/10 in good conscience. Enjoy what you can!
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