Movie · 1977 · Romance, Drama, Music · 2h 43m · PG · English
Curator score: 3.2/10 (24K ratings)
The war was over and the world was falling in love again.
Overview
An egotistical saxophone player and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long uphill climb.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.2/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 58%
Metacritic: 64
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Martin Scorsese
Production
United Artists, Winkler Films
Cast
Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, Lionel Stander, Barry Primus, Mary Kay Place, George Memmoli, Dick Miller, Murray Moston, Leonard Gaines, Clarence Clemons, Georgie Auld, Kathi McGinnis, Norman Palmer, Adam David Winkler, Dimitri Logothetis, Frank Sivero, Diahnne Abbott, Margo Winkler, Steven Prince, Don Calfa
Curator Review
Verdict
A big, messy, highly stylized romantic drama that’s more compelling for its emotional bruises and visual bravado than for any clean love story. It’s uneven, but the performances, period atmosphere, and Scorsese’s audacious swing make it worth seeing, especially if you like glamorous films with a bitter edge.
Best for
viewers who like romantic dramas with an ugly, emotionally abusive streak
fans of old-Hollywood musical style filtered through New Hollywood cynicism
people who appreciate ambitious, imperfect auteur projects
viewers drawn to strong lead performances and lavish production design
Skip if
you want a tight, conventional romance
you dislike long, self-conscious period films
you need musical numbers to feel buoyant or escapist
you have little patience for abrasive protagonists
Overview
New York, New York is one of those films that feels like it’s constantly fighting with itself, and that tension is exactly what makes it interesting. Scorsese stages a glossy, MGM-style dream of postwar showbiz, then keeps puncturing it with jealousy, vanity, and emotional damage. The result is less a crowd-pleasing musical than a bruised romance wearing sequins.
Worth noting
Liza Minnelli is the film’s center of gravity, and she gives it a vitality that keeps the whole thing from collapsing under its own ambition. Robert De Niro plays the sax player as a bundle of ego and insecurity, which can make the relationship hard to endure, but that discomfort is part of the point. The movie is often more persuasive as a study of control, ambition, and self-delusion than as a love story.
Bottom line
It’s overlong and uneven, but it’s also dazzling in stretches: the club sequences, the studio-artifice of the production design, and the sheer commitment to scale all leave a mark. If you’re open to a musical that’s romantic in form but bitter in feeling, this is a fascinating, sometimes exhilarating watch.
Top Letterboxd reviews
mia lee vicino (4★) · 836 likes
the fact that this vibrant collision of romanticism and realism is somehow considered a “lesser” Marty picture is a testament to the man’s inability to miss. despite its box office failure and lukewarm reviews (musicalphobia is real…), its sonic impact has loudly and clearly reverberated throughout culture, decades and decades on. i’m talking specifically about when Alex the lion sings New York, New York in Madagascar :)
more proof for my theory that 1977 was the greatest year for cinema
Joe (5★) · 655 likes
When you're in love, everything feels like a movie, the sidewalks light up wherever you go and everything seems to be in perfect harmony. Then the relationship ends and after reality settles in again, you think back and it seems different, you realize you were kind of a dick and that the reason everything seemed beautiful was because you were too wrapped up in your own feelings to see what was really going on, how selfish and manipulative and cruel… more When you're in love, everything feels like a movie, the sidewalks light up wherever you go and everything seems to be in perfect harmony. Then the relationship ends and after reality settles in again, you think back and it seems different, you realize you were kind of a dick and that the reason everything seemed beautiful was because you were too wrapped up in your own feelings to see what was really going on, how selfish and manipulative and cruel… more
russman (2★) · 572 likes
Scorsese, I love you but you're bringing me down
Logan Kenny (5★) · 431 likes
one of the best films about emotional abuse that there’s ever been.
matt lynch (4★) · 412 likes
Don't have a ton to add to the discourse on what does or doesn't work about this, except to say that it's a hell of a big swing, especially since once you strip away the astounding artifice and Hollywood metadata and those heavily improvised performances, this is a simple story about a woman struggling to escape an abusive relationship.