New York, I Love You

** Stars

From the producer of Paris Je’Taime, New York, I Love You is a collage of scenes with people dealing with the emotions and situations of love, set in the all too familiar big apple. Rather than trying to connect the stories together, the film, or more appropriately this anthology, fails to even bother with the idea of structure and instead relies heavily on the magic card. What we get are enough scenes to make the length of a feature film rather than actually experiencing one. Unless you live in New York or want to see enough celebrities to fulfill your People Magazine fix for the week, there really isn’t any reason to go out and see it.

And it’s too bad, because there are many lovely moments here. The cast is lively, featuring the diverse talents of Shia Lebeouf, Robin Wright Penn, Bradley Cooper, Rachel Bilson, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, Chris Cooper, Olivia Thirlby, and many more. Yet the films witty dialogue and performances can’t overcome its frustratingly scattershot style. Instead of emotionally connecting with characters, we’re thrown into a world that feels like a taste of these celebrities and their lives. While there are some splendid shots of NYC, I wanted more of glimpse as to why the film is titled the way it is.