Sidewalks of New York

Ed Burns writes and directs his ode to NYC and Woody Allen with this quaint film about lovers in the Big Apple acting all screwy. Burns has never been a filmmaker who has set my world on fire, but there’s enough chemistry between the performers, including Burns, to keep things enjoyable. Burns plays a TV producer kicked out of his home by his girlfriend, looking for apartments with a smoking real estate lady (former girlfriend Heather Graham). Graham’s character is married to Stanley Tucci, who is fooling around with Brittany Murphy, who is getting the eye from affable doorman David Krumholtz. The stories interconnect in sweet fashion, and while Burns is an engaging actor, I had more fun with the story surrounding Murphy and Krumholtz. Their little piece of the movie is so cute you could pinch it. It doesn’t hurt to have the likes of Tucci and Dennis Farina around in supporting roles, showing the young kids how the acting thing is done. Burns is pretty lightweight stuff, and his shaky Woody Allen camera is a bit dizzying at times, but the movie finishes as an above-average romantic comedy. It’s nice to see a filmmaker not pulling a Zoolander and leaving the World Trade Center in his movie. It’s a nice thing to see the buildings standing tall over the actors’ shoulders. I think Burns is a better actor than director, but it’s fair to say that this is his best movie to date.