Sidewalks of New York(2001 film)

Sidewalks of New Yorkis a 2001 Americancomedy-dramafilm written and directed byEdward Burns,who also stars in the film. The plot follows eight cycles in the lives of sixManhattanresidents whose inter-connections form a circle that places each of them less than the proverbialsix degrees of separationfrom the others.

Sidewalks of New York
Original theatrical release poster featuring the World Trade Center towers at the top right. The towers were removed in later posters.
Directed by	Edward Burns
Written by	Edward Burns
Produced by	Margot Bridger Edward Burns Cathy Schulman Rick Yorn
Starring	Edward Burns Rosario Dawson Dennis Farina Heather Graham David Krumholtz Brittany Murphy Stanley Tucci
Cinematography	Frank Prinzi
Edited by	David Greenwald
Distributed by	Paramount Classics(United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan) Buena Vista Film Sales(International)
Release date	November 21, 2001(2001-11-21)(Limited)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1 million (estimated)
Box office	$3.5 million

Plot

The circle begins with Tommy Reilly, a onetime wannabe writer who became theproducerof a weeklytelevisionentertainment news show by design rather than choice, and has stayed with it for the money rather than any professional satisfaction. Dumped by his live-in girlfriend without warning, he temporarily moves in with colleague Carpo, an agingLotharioready to offer unlimited — and sometimes useless — romantic advice.

At a video store, Tommy meets grammar school teacher Maria Tedesko. The two flirt, meet for coffee and begin to date. Maria, recently divorced, finds it difficult to commit to a new relationship and stops taking Tommy's calls. When she discovers she's pregnant, she attempts to reconnect with him, but at the last moment opts to lie and tell him she's leaving town and chooses to raise the child on her own.

Maria's ex-husband, who longs to reconcile with her, is Benjamin Bazler, an apartment house doorman and aspiring songwriter whose obsession is 1960s/1970srock music.He shares his dream of becoming a full-time musician with Iowa transplant Ashley, anNYUstudent working as a coffee shop waitress to support herself.

Ashley is involved in an affair with considerably older married dentist Griffin Ritso. Although he professes to love his mistress, the once divorced Griffin shies away from leaving his wife Annie Matthews for fear of being a two-time loser at matrimony. Eventually, Griffin's inability to commit to their relationship causes Ashley to dump him and reject his advances to get her back as she becomes involved in a relationship with Benjamin.

Real estate brokerAnnie is unhappy with her marriage but too moral to consider having an affair. She finds herself confiding in and flirting with one of her house-hunting clients — Tommy Reilly. Thus the circle is complete. She finally leaves Griffin.

The narrative segments are intermingled withdocumentary-like interviews in which of the characters address the camera with their thoughts about sex, love, and relationships.

Production notes

The film premiered at theToronto International Film Festivalon September 8, 2001. Following theterrorist attacksthree days later,Paramount Classicswithheld its release until late November. Although theWorld Trade Centerlooms behind Tommy during his interviews, the image of the twin towers in the original promotional poster was later deleted.

In an episode of theSundance ChannelseriesAnatomy of a Scenethat focused on the film, Burns revealed he shot the film in only seventeen days, working with a budget of $1 million. Many of the locations used were within the same neighborhood in order to facilitate a quick move from one to the other.

Cast

• Edward Burnsas Tommy Reilly
• Rosario Dawsonas Maria Tedesko
• David Krumholtzas Benjamin Bazler
• Brittany Murphyas Ashley
• Stanley Tuccias Griffin Ritso
• Heather Grahamas Annie Matthews
• Dennis Farinaas Carpo

Release

The film played on 224 screens and grossed $2,402,459 in the United States. The international box office accounted for another $1.1 million.

Reception

On thereview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoesthe film holds an approval rating of 56% based of 94 reviews with an average rating of 5.50/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Though well-acted,Sidewalks of New Yorkgenerally comes off as a second-rate Woody Allen film. The characters seem self-absorbed, the problems trite. "Metacriticgave the film aweighted averagescore of 49 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews"

In his review inThe New York Times,A.O. Scottsaid: "Though it fails to be very interesting,Sidewalks of New York,like the people who populate Mr. Burns's New York, is impossible to dislike. If it's not especially funny, it is appealingly good-humored, and the actors perform well within the limitations of the script... [Burns] deserves credit for avoiding the sudsy happily-ever-afterclichésthat deform so many contemporary romantic comedies. The view of love that emerges fromSidewalks,while it is not particularly deep or insightful, is refreshingly hard-headed without being altogether cynical. "

Roger Ebertof theChicago Sun-Timesobserved: "The movie lives at the intersection betweenWoody AllenandSex and the City...[It] is funny without being hilarious, touching but not tearful, and articulate in the way that Burns is articulate, by nibbling earnestly around an idea as if afraid that the core has seeds. "

InVariety,Scott Foundas called the film "not just instantly forgettable, but beginning to fade from memory even as its images still play across the screen" and one "seized by fitful bouts of hilarity and charm," a picture whose "overall impression is one of overindulgence and underimagination - a sponge cake without the yeast."

Mick LaSalleof theSan Francisco Chroniclesaid: "In the world of this picture, just about everything people do with their clothes on is a sham, or at best some lame diversion between the spasms of real life that take place only in a bedroom. This may be the way very young adults think, but as a presentation of grown-ups,Sidewalks of New Yorkis just weird. It's also, scene by scene, well acted and well written. Burns writes clever dialogue, and he knows how to work with actors. "

InUSA Today,Mike Clark rated the film two out of a possible four stars, and commented: "Any goodwill the performers build up is quickly shot down by the incessant interviews, which restate the obvious when they're not showing how self-delusional some of these characters are. Those who teach public speaking sometimes advocate telling your audience what you're going to tell them, then actually telling them, then telling them what you've told them.Sidewalksreproves this isn't a wise path for movies. "

External links

• Sidewalks of New YorkatIMDb
• Sidewalks of New Yorkat theTCM Movie Database
• Sidewalks of New Yorkat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Sidewalks of New YorkatRotten Tomatoes
• Sidewalks of New YorkatMetacritic