New York, I Love You

Directed by Jiang Wen, Brett Ratner, and others

(R)

**

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Ten short films try to encapsulate New York.

The snapshots in New York, I Love You are not of the city I know and love, said Leah Rozen in People. Intertwining 10 vignettes in one loving tribute to the Big Apple, the film is the second in producer Emmanuel Benbihy’s “Cities of Love” series. While its predecessor—2006’s Paris, je t’aime—wasn’t perfect, it did provide an accurate portrayal of distinct neighborhoods. Most New Yorkers wouldn’t recognize the Gotham shown here. The film is a “flurry of valentines to a fantasy version of the city,” said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. The mostly “non-hometown” directors hardly ever leave “tourist-friendly” Manhattan, and their hackneyed images of the city are “as fresh as the postcards on sale in Times Square.” Worse, the characters are mostly white heterosexuals, which misrepresents the city’s diverse population. Ever-evolving New York could never be fully rendered on film, said Erica Abeel in The Hollywood Reporter. But a few sketches give outsiders a peek at the real New York. Julie Christie and Shia LaBeouf star in a lovely short scripted by the late Anthony Minghella, while Joshua Marston directs Cloris Leachman and Eli Wallach in a touching portrait of octogenarian love.