The Only Living Boy in New York (2017)

Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a movie as much as I enjoyed this! Wonderful writing, brilliant. concept, masterful acting, great cinematography! What's not to love? Jeff Bridges was the perfect choice for the difficult role he played, as were the rest of the cast. Certainly an original concept, one that reminds me that every time I think that subject matter and approach have been totally exhausted someone comes up with something entirely new. How anyone could not love this movie I can't even begin to fathom...

The movie's timeline lost 20 years somewhere - a hole bigger than any in Back To The Future. The movie was made in 2016 and was set in the present, featuring cell phones and mentioning Google, the closing of CBGBs (2006), and the death of Lou Reed (2013). One character says he's 22 years old. So that means he couldn't have been born before 1991, although I'd place it more like 1995. But then we learn from the character of his father, who looks every bit as old as the 68 years the actor was in filming, that his son was conceived when the father was a young man, back in the hippie days, listening to Simon & Garfunkel records. Simon & Garfunkel split up in 1970, when the actor playing the father was 21 years old. It all makes sense except for the fact that the son is supposed to be 22. The son should have been more like 45. Or the entire movie should have taken place circa 1995. And the character of the young girlfriend was so overweight and unattractive as to strain credibility. Bad casting there. Overall, the movie was innocuous and vapid.

What you need to know from me is simple: it's perfectly acted it's well written well cast, oh so well cast the first movie i've seen where new york matters without being involved in the plot the rest is personal, if you don't like it you don't care about the content of it. It's proficient on every level, and it's weirdly and randomly relevant to me. You don't know me, so give it a watch in case it's the same for you.

I didn't get this movie. At first I thought the director was trying to imitate a Woody Allen movie. This didn't work. Then I thought I'd gone to some romcom by accident, but no one was laughing. The script is bad, the 'deep psychological' plot turns just don't work, the casting is terrible, there's definitely no magic going on between the actors. I sat through 1 1/2 hours, but I advice you to save your bucks and just don't go see this movie. You'll probably be able to see in on Netflix in a few months in the "Arthouse" section.