grantss OK, but not great. Surprisingly mediocre, at it is a Scorsese-De Niro collaboration.Decent enough story, and the direction is solid. You can see the Scorsese hand in the movie.However, the movie is overly long, at 2 1/2 hours and the plot drifts for long periods. The movie also often seems to be a vehicle to showcase Liza Minnell singing and stage talents, rather than a proper drama. If Scorsese had kept the plot tighter, and moved it along at a faster pace, plus cut down on the musical numbers he would have had a very good (approx) 1 3/4 hour movie.Robert De Niro puts in his usual excellent performance, showing his versatility in terms of the characters he takes on.

SnoopyStyle It's V-J Day in New York. Jimmy Doyle (De Niro) is an aggressive, volatile saxophone player. He relentlessly pursues USO singer Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli). She eventually goes with him on an audition and it's a long rocky relationship as her star rises.This Martin Scorsese film comes right after Taxi Driver. Jimmy Doyle is essentially Travis Bickle with a little more social graces. There is a split in intention from the two movie leads. Jimmy Doyle is driving towards a dark disturbing story like Taxi Driver. It is off-putting but fascinating. On the other hand, Liza Minnelli seems to be pushing for a Broadway musical. There are a couple of good songs including the iconic New York, New York. I just don't see why she would ever go with him since she doesn't have the prerequisite damage. Neither really works and they certainly don't work together. I'm wondering if the movie would function better with an even darker ending.

rooprect "New York, New York" is a musical brought to us by the director (and leading actor) of "Taxi Driver" just a matter of months after that hard-hitting, violent classic shocked us. What Scorsese sought to do here was use the style of those candy-coated technicolor song & dance films our grandparents grew up on ("Singin in the Rain" and such) but give it a more realistic edge. Visually he succeeded impressively. The sets, lighting, camera work and costumes are exactly as you'd expect from a classic toe tapper. As for the realistic edge, he also succeeded--perhaps too well.Like a few other reviewers, I have a problem with the casting of Di Nero, especially when contrasted against the sweet, passive charm of Liza Minnelli (whose amazing performance I'll get to later). From the outset, Di Nero comes across as a borderline psycho just waiting to smack a few women around, and I found that to be very distracting from an otherwise personal story.In Scorsese's prologue to the 35th Anniversary DVD he talks about how he wanted to tell a story of 2 people in love who just can't seem to mesh due to personality & artistic differences. But instead what we get is the story of an abusive man and a submissive woman. This is not, as Scorsese implies, simply a personality difference. It's a very polarized tale of a creep & a sweet girl. Honestly, it was Scorsese's deceptive prologue that made me feel like the film failed. If he hadn't said anything, or if he had more accurately said that this is a disturbing story of domination set as a cute musical, I would have said it was a triumph. But in that it fails to do what the director says it's designed to do, it fails artistically.Does that mean it's a bad movie? Absolutely not! Just like "Rollerball" (1976) was supposed to be Norm Jewison's anti-violence film but ended up thrilling us with its heart-pounding action & violence, "New York, New York" is a very well made, entertaining and masterful piece of film. The contrast between its charming visuals and its unsettling dysfunctional love story is very effective. I just wish it had featured a different leading male--someone better suited to play an imposing figure with a heart (Christopher Walken, anyone?) rather than Di Nero who, at least in this film, comes across as a villain.Liza Minnelli is stunningly good. She is what raises this film from "good" to "great". Her character is submissive to Di Nero's tyrannical presence; yet we never get the feeling that she's a pitiable victim. Instead, she seems smart, bold, and while she doesn't fight back at times we wish she would, she always deals with the problem instead of lying down and taking it. Her emotional scenes are very genuine (not sappy). And of course that voice! This is one of the rare musicals where a song number *adds* to the drama rather than serving as a sideshow.In all, this is a unique and powerful film which you should watch if you get the opportunity (note: although it's quite long, be sure to see the uncut 2 1/2 hour version). While it seems to have failed at delivering the director's original intent, it does give us something else worth sinking our teeth into.

Boiledbeef While some reviewers were raving over the newer, restored length version, I, for one, would like it cut down again. This film is an adaptation of What Price Hollywood and the later remakes titled A Star Is Born. Two talented individuals meet and the woman soon surpasses her husband in fame; something he cannot endure. Unfortunately unlike the predecessor films, the male lead (DeNiro) doesn't walk out into the sea and spare us anymore of his vile character. He is petty, childish, jealous, lying, manipulative, angry....there wasn't a redeeming aspect to this character. And Liza Minelli's character was the polar opposite. She was a weak co-dependent that just couldn't swallow enough abuse. Hard characters to sit with for 3 hours. The story takes place in the 40's just after the war but you often feel the staginess of it. It has that very 70's feel to the look and sound. It looks dated, but not to the 40's sadly. While Ms. Minelli does some nice renditions of standards, there is a very long montage of songs in the last hour as we watch a movie within a movie that goes on forever. Minelli belting one out after the other with all stops removed accompanied by lavish dancing and scenery a la those big MGM movies of the period. The songs, however, are not memorable and I was squirming for it to end already. A quick blend of each song would have sufficed but we got one full song after another. And of course, the big show stopper of NY,NY at the end. Personally, I don't like the song, even when Frank sings it. It's a let down. This is the big number that both people have been lovingly slaving over for years to get just right? There are a few great moments where the real Scorcese comes through such as a scene where DeNiro is hauled out of a nightclub down a hallway of light bulbs. Nicely composed with that touch of grunge as a struggling DeNiro kicks out bulbs. Another is a fantastic screaming match in the car between the two stars. Otherwise, the director gets lost in all the production and staging.