This is a chick's film. And I am most emphatically not a chick but I love it. Men can be romantic, too. Provided there is something about the romantic story which is as intelligent and beguiling as this story is.
The performances of Mary Stuart Masterson and Christian Slater are master studies in delicacy and hesitancy, arising out of their characters' tragic backstories and the exigencies of the romantic plot generated by their lonely background. This is the dance of love at its most delicate, hesitant, subtle and intricate. The whole film is shot through with a Ravelian delicacy of music and mood, and indeed the music of Michael Convertino (along with some well chosen ballads) is a major reason for the film's delicate beauty and atmosphere, superbly combined with the excellent photography. New York has never looked so much like a city for lovers! Pamela Adlon's character is so interesting and attractive in herself that it is a crying shame she was not given her own film with her own fine romance.
The story and characterisation has been more than adequately conveyed in the reviews to date. I would simply like to emphasise that the romance is sweet without being sickly, particularly because of the edginess to the story at times which counterpoints the lyrical moments. With performance, script, music and photography in perfect sync this is a film whose afterglow lingers long in the memory of your true romantic. A minor masterpiece. Would there were more like it.
The performances of Mary Stuart Masterson and Christian Slater are master studies in delicacy and hesitancy, arising out of their characters' tragic backstories and the exigencies of the romantic plot generated by their lonely background. This is the dance of love at its most delicate, hesitant, subtle and intricate. The whole film is shot through with a Ravelian delicacy of music and mood, and indeed the music of Michael Convertino (along with some well chosen ballads) is a major reason for the film's delicate beauty and atmosphere, superbly combined with the excellent photography. New York has never looked so much like a city for lovers! Pamela Adlon's character is so interesting and attractive in herself that it is a crying shame she was not given her own film with her own fine romance.
The story and characterisation has been more than adequately conveyed in the reviews to date. I would simply like to emphasise that the romance is sweet without being sickly, particularly because of the edginess to the story at times which counterpoints the lyrical moments. With performance, script, music and photography in perfect sync this is a film whose afterglow lingers long in the memory of your true romantic. A minor masterpiece. Would there were more like it.