Welcome to New York (2014)

In New York, the French director of the World Bank Mr. Devereaux (Gérard Depardieu) is a pervert and womanizer, partying and participating in gang bangs with women. When he tries to rape the hotel housekeeper in his room, the woman reports to the police. Devereaux is arrested, affecting also the life of his wife Simone (Jacqueline Bisset)."Welcome to New York", by Abel Ferrara, is a long, uneven and inconclusive film based on the New York v. Strauss-Kahn case. The story shows the lead character Devereaux as an egocentric, pervert and sick womanizer through excessive sex scenes and his relationship with his daughter and wife. When he is released in house arrest, the screenplay is developed at a very slow pace and is boring. However the lack of conclusion is terrible. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Bem-Vindo a Nova York" ("Welcome to New York")

This film tells the story of a powerful French man in the field of economics, who is addicted to sex. He runs into trouble when he is accused of raping a hotel maid in New York.I think the problem about "Welcome to New York" is that everyone knows the whole plot already before watching the film, so it is a challenge to keep viewers interested and surprised. Having extended sex scenes one after another may superficially do the trick, but ultimately I find "Welcome to New York" lacking in real substance. The wife, Simone, is likable and gives convincing displays of emotions. I am sympathetic towards her character. The main character, Devereaux, on the other hand, lacks that certain spark. I guess it is because his character is so egocentric and pathological that he does not show much emotions. He only sweet talk to ladies, yet he is not shown to be able to do much else. The filmmakers could have made it interesting by throwing in more courtroom drama, or more public outcry. There are loads of missed opportunities with the film to deliver a gripping and sensational story.

Totally non-believable boring and basically unwatchable. I'm not an apologist for DSK, NYPD, IMF, or the PS but this movie is so far away from reality that its pathetic. Who funds garbage like this? I don't know DSK but I do know he was managing director of the IMF for 4 years as well as holding MANY prestigious posts within the French political system. I find it hard to believe that he travels alone taking yellow cabs to the Airport and is then left in the New York Prison/Court System without getting access to a lawyer and then strip searched? LOL ... Come on now! The scenes are dull lifeless and bland. I know more about DSK from watching a few stupid news clips than I learned from this entire movie. There was NO attempt to develop his character or anyone else's. It seems as though the script writers knew NOTHING about DSK or ANY of the characters in the film. His wife is portrayed as some sort of "backbone" who ran his career? The scene with Bisset and Depardieu was scripted poorly and acted even more poorly if that can even be possible. I'm not the biggest fan of the NYPD either but their depiction in the film was very insulting to them and ME! The guy supposedly rents an apartment for $65k a month but can't get a private car to pick him up at the airport?? I still don't know the real story of what happened with DSK. Its obvious that people in very high places want to destroy the careers of DSK, Depardieu, Bisset, and Ferrara because it certainly shines a pitiful light on all of them.

In some ways Gerard Depardieu is the Gallic Helen Mirren, i.e a more than accomplished actor, admired by his peers, adored by fans, an Award winner yet with a compulsion to take off his/her clothes. He did it first - to my knowledge - back in the 70s in The Last Woman where, not content to spend half the film in the buff, he cut off his penis for an encore. He stops short of self-mutilation here and the one full-frontal scene - it occurs when, following his arrest, he is strip-searched = last no more than a couple of minutes. Depardieu, like most of the cast, phones it in and I suppose one has to give him credit for appearing in something that is both cheesy and sleazy, the sort of role a young actor will take on to get noticed. In fact the only reason I can think of for the appearance of Jacqeline Besset as Depardieu's wife is the fact that she has more or less dropped off the radar and the ego needed a little massaging. There's absolutely nothing to recommend in this movie - perhaps 20 years ago the sex would have sold it, a la Last Tango In Paris, but not in an age where you can access the same thing at the click of a mouse.