Adrift in Manhattan

Fragments of Coincidence and Connection
Though there have been many films of late that address the issues of the isolation of the individual in a society increasingly settling for homogeneity, few have the honesty and simplicity of presentation as Alfredo De Villa's ADRIFT IN MANHATTAN. Perhaps the reason this film works so well is that instead of dealing with the usual tropes, De Villa restricts his story to three individuals who are suffering isolation in the noise and autonomy of New York City and are thus 'adrift' in a life that seems flat and without a beacon of hope. The story De Villa weaves is one of interaction of these characters by almost serendipitous incidents, moments that change their lives - at least for a while.

Teenager Simon Colon (Victor Rasuk) lives with his overbearing mother Marta (Marlene Forte) and gets through his life almost without speaking, working in a camera shop, spending his idle hours photographing people in the park. Tommaso Pensara (Dominic Chianese) is an elderly painter and...

Definitely adrift
These people are definitely adrift in Manhattan, in an acceptable, pass-the-time, not-too-believable, hardly compelling, but worthwhile film. The anomie of the city.

Made My Short List of Movies Not Worth Watching
The box says this movie is "unrated" but it should just be honest and say "Rated R for strong deviant graphic sexuality" so people who are not into that would have some idea they might want to skip this one.

The box says it is "Award Winning" but upon examination of this claim I was unable to discover what award or awards that might be.

The box says "critics have been raving" about this movie, but after watching it I am pretty sure I understand why there is no listing of any of the names of those critics.

For the most part the acting, directing and cinematography are very good and there is a sense while watching (as discussed in other reviews here) that there is a very important story being artfully woven together in an interesting and compelling way. However, by the time the telling is done, you discover that the story was not being woven, but was actually unraveling instead, as each thread of the story ends disappointingly and unsatisfyingly. I got a...

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