MovieMartyr.com - Sidewalks of New York / Husbands and Wives

Ed Burns’ Sidewalks of New York is a stunningly blatant rip-off of Woody Allen’s 1992 masterpiece Husbands and Wives. Like Allen’s film, it follows six well-to-do white New Yorkers as they unknowingly trade partners with each other. Also like Husbands and Wives, Sidewalks employs a hand-held camera, editing that chops out the middles of many scenes, and a documentary framing device which interviews all of the principal characters. It’s rather astonishing that Burns would think few would make these connections, even if Husbands is one of Allen’s most criminally underappreciated films.

The two films do differ somewhat, however. Allen’s film really focused on the dynamics of a relationship. In his film, we saw the manipulations and passive aggressive tendencies that were necessary to achieve any sort of personal happiness when you were married to another person. It was a far more cynical and enlightening view of relationships than what Burns presents in Sidewalks. Burns’ stories mostly focus on the need for love versus the need for sex. It’s a good bit more facile than Allen’s film, so it’s exceptionally fortunate that Burns infuses the film with a sense of good-heartedness. The characters are all rather likable, and if I had to choose to spend actual time with either this cast or the cast of Husbands, I would pick Sidewalks’ easily. It has to be said that although Burns draws some terrific performances from his cast (a bubbly Brittany Murphy and a surprisingly intelligent and vulnerable Heather Graham are the standouts here) he doesn’t have a script that digs exceptionally deeply. Allen’s film goes deeper than any romantic comedy that I could name, and his skill with his actors pays dividends. Every performance in the ensemble, with the possible exception of Liam Neeson’s small role, is a stunner. Allen’s script’s humor mostly arises when his characters say that they will do one thing, and then a few scenes later do the exact opposite. He rarely underlines these discrepancies, which makes the film feel as if it is subtly snickering at them, rather than being completely judgmental of their actions.

I’m not sure that Burns is a very good director at all, even if I enjoyed his film. Many of his stylistic choices don’t feel entirely justified. I enjoy watching him as an actor, however (in my opinion, he was the standout in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan). It’s quite interesting that he writes Woody Allen-type material here. He’s obviously far better looking than Allen, and as a result, he hands of the prototypical Allen role to the nebbish David Krumholtz. What is seriously lacking in his new film is the self-introspection that makes most of Allen’s work so fascinating. In Sidewalks, Burns’ lead character is almost willfully unaware of the way that others perceive him, and the film’s eventual plot revolves around that naïveté. The film opens with Burns discussing his loss of innocence while standing in front of the World Trade Center (this caused the film to be delayed a few months), and at the end of the film, he still feels completely unaware of the ramifications of his behavior and unwilling to take choices to change his unhappy career path. It’s ironic that the film bothers to raise as many potential crises as it does for his character and then allows him to skirt obliviously past them all. Unlike Allen, who gives the impression that his films are a form of psychotherapy for him, Burns seems to raise these issues simply because the film he’s emulating raised some. He remains an ideologically optimistic pup.

Allen’s film is far more adult, and far more serious, and even if it has less love in its heart for its characters, the bit that shines through feels as if at has been earned. Like Sidewalks, Husbands and Wives’ release was surrounded by a controversy that’s nearly impossible to escape while viewing the film. It was the last film that Woody Allen and Mia Farrow made together before their relationship disintegrated, and as a result Farrow’s role as a manipulative shrew seems a manipulation in itself. It’s a far more complex and patient character than any Burns has created thus far, and Farrow’s portrayal of her is filled with the blackest comic energy imaginable. Allen’s middle-aged character undergoes an affair with Rain (Juliette Lewis), a smart young college student, which is a subplot that might make some audience members squirm. A similar relationship in Burns’ film tellingly has little of the same effect. To me, the willingness to explore these issues is artistically brave, and Allen’s paid the price for his supposed sins. It is about time that Husbands and Wives be revaluated on its own terms and seen as the masterpiece that it is. Sidewalks of New York is a very enjoyable film on its own terms, even as it pales in comparison. For less adventurous viewers though, the likable cast and warm tone might even make it preferable.

Sidewalks of New York - ***1/2

Husbands and Wives - **** Masterpiece

11-25-01

Jeremy Heilman