DVD Review - The Great New Wonderful
Director Danny Leiner and writer Sam Catlin have created a sensitive and warm portrayal of people in New York City who are trying to get their lives back together after the tragedy of September 11, 2001.
The film consists of five stories that don't appear to be connected but really are. The first story focuses on pastry chef Emme Keeler (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Emme's is up for a big job with a rich family. But she has competition from Safarah Polsky (Edie Falco) who is known as the "Pastry Queen." Emme's greatest wish is to get this job.
The second story features a married couple named David (Thomas McCarthy) and Allison (Judy Greer) Burbage. David and Allison's sex life (and their life in general) has suffered greatly because of their mentally disturbed son Charlie (Bill Donner). Whenever they try to make love Charlie manages to do something disruptive and Allison feels that she has to attend to him. When they are called down to see Mr. Peersall (Steven Colbert), who is the school principal, they have to make a decision.
The third story is about Avi (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sharat Saxena (Satish) who are two friends working together in the security field. While Avi is a bit too carefree Satish always seems to have a chip on his shoulder.
The fourth story targets Dr. Trabulous (Tony Shalhoub) who is a psychiatrist. The doctor is working for a corporation trying to help those who might be suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome due to 9/11. He gets involved with one particular worker named Sandie. Sandie denies having any underlying negative emotions but the doctor feels otherwise.
The last story is about an senior named Judie Hillerman (Olympia Dukakis). Judie lives a humdrum life with her uncommunicative husband Henry (Ed Setrakian). One day she meets
someone that she hasn't seen in a long time - Jerry Bono (Dick Latressa). Judie and Jerry spend an afternoon together and although nothing romantic happens he makes her realize that something it missing in her life.
That, in a nutshell, is the film. There are some good performances - Gyllenhaal, Shalhoub, Dukakis, Colbert and Falco come to mind. And there are others as well. I also liked the fact that the film shows life outside the borough of Manhattan (there are four other boroughs but they usually get ignored). This is a slice of life type of film. And while this is not outstanding filmmaking it does connect you with your emotions and reminds you how you felt after that dark day that the forever changed the world.
The film consists of five stories that don't appear to be connected but really are. The first story focuses on pastry chef Emme Keeler (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Emme's is up for a big job with a rich family. But she has competition from Safarah Polsky (Edie Falco) who is known as the "Pastry Queen." Emme's greatest wish is to get this job.
The second story features a married couple named David (Thomas McCarthy) and Allison (Judy Greer) Burbage. David and Allison's sex life (and their life in general) has suffered greatly because of their mentally disturbed son Charlie (Bill Donner). Whenever they try to make love Charlie manages to do something disruptive and Allison feels that she has to attend to him. When they are called down to see Mr. Peersall (Steven Colbert), who is the school principal, they have to make a decision.
The third story is about Avi (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sharat Saxena (Satish) who are two friends working together in the security field. While Avi is a bit too carefree Satish always seems to have a chip on his shoulder.
The fourth story targets Dr. Trabulous (Tony Shalhoub) who is a psychiatrist. The doctor is working for a corporation trying to help those who might be suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome due to 9/11. He gets involved with one particular worker named Sandie. Sandie denies having any underlying negative emotions but the doctor feels otherwise.
The last story is about an senior named Judie Hillerman (Olympia Dukakis). Judie lives a humdrum life with her uncommunicative husband Henry (Ed Setrakian). One day she meets
someone that she hasn't seen in a long time - Jerry Bono (Dick Latressa). Judie and Jerry spend an afternoon together and although nothing romantic happens he makes her realize that something it missing in her life.
That, in a nutshell, is the film. There are some good performances - Gyllenhaal, Shalhoub, Dukakis, Colbert and Falco come to mind. And there are others as well. I also liked the fact that the film shows life outside the borough of Manhattan (there are four other boroughs but they usually get ignored). This is a slice of life type of film. And while this is not outstanding filmmaking it does connect you with your emotions and reminds you how you felt after that dark day that the forever changed the world.
posted by Film Fanatic | 9:03 AM
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