reel critics

Allen MacDonald

There’s nothing wrong with aspiring to greatness. Edward Burns does

with his fourth film, “Sidewalks of New York,” a sometimes clever, often

cloying peek into the romantic lives of a group of interconnected New

Yorkers as they stumble through the pitfalls of relationships.

Burns has created a slick production with talented actors, but doesn’t

appear to have any original thought or insight into the subject.

Burns is obviously emulating the master of this territory, Woody

Allen. It’s a lofty task to attempt to out-Wood the Woodster. Keeping

that in mind, “Sidewalks of New York” should be thought of as Woody

Allen-Lite.

With its shaky, documentary-style photography, Manhattan setting and

self-analyzing dialogue, this film borrows heavily from Allen’s 1992 film

“Husbands and Wives.” To be fair, there are more differences than

similarities. This movie’s tone is far more whimsical than the dark,

cutting wit of Allen.

“Sidewalks” focuses on six characters striving for love, sex, or

preferably both, if possible. There’s Tommy (Edward Burns), a good-guy TV

Producer who’s looking to settle down with a nice girl and start a

family. Tommy tries to make it happen with Maria (Rosario Dawson), a

young elementary school teacher who’s gun-shy after her divorce from Ben

(David Krumholz), a doorman who’s vigorously pursuing 19-year-old Ashley

(Brittany Murphy), a coiled ball of frenetic energy, who is having an

affair with sleazy Griffin (Stanley Tucci), 20 years her senior, who is

stepping out on his sweet, real estate agent wife (Heather Graham), who

finds herself fighting an attraction to one of her clients . . . Tommy.

The most tiresome aspect of “Sidewalks” is its “interview” styled

format -- characters talk directly to the camera, answering the questions

of an off-screen interviewer. Who is the interviewer? We’re never told.

How did he get these people to talk on camera? Not a clue.

It’s a cheap, lazy device that does nothing more than tell the

audience information it already knows. Film is, after all, a visual

medium; we don’t need to be told what we’ve already seen.

Although “Sidewalks” has many nice moments, it doesn’t earn them.

Burns tends to allow his characters to drastically jump from one emotion

to the next, not always explaining what internal forces catalyzed such a

shift. However, Burns begins making his most inspired choices as the

movie closes.

“Sidewalks” has a lot of self-absorbed whining and angst, but it’s not

a bad way to spend an afternoon.

* ALLEN MacDONALD, 28, is currently working toward his master’s degree

in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.