In the declining years of New Hollywood (1967-1980), a lot of the big directors who were successful during this time period made at least one film that was a major blow for their careers, financially and critically. For William Freidkin, it was Sorcerer (1977). For Peter Bogdanovich, it was At Long Last Love (1975). With a filmography like Martin Scorsese's, one wouldn't expect him to be in that boat. Unfortunately, New York, New York, his next film after Taxi Driver, put him in a career slump that led to his near-death from cocaine overdose. Scorsese made the film as a tribute to musicals from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Having not seen many of those, I can't say if this was successful as a tribute or not, but on its own terms, it's quite frustrating.The plot is that Jimmy Doyle (Robert De Niro) tries to hook up with Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli) during a V-J Day party (the film starts in 1945). He's initially unsuccessful, but at a later audition, the two discover each other's musical talents (she sings, he plays the saxophone), and they go through the next several years exploring their careers while trying to handle a rocky relationship that only deteriorates when Francine reveals her pregnancy.For me, at least, the most obvious problem is how the dialogue is handled. Scorsese films usually excel in it, but here, there is so much dialogue that drags scenes out and feel like each character is trying to explain everything he or she means. Other times, the dialogue can feel pretty sparse and useless. The opening scene is a prime example; when Jimmy keeps asking Francine for her phone number and tries to hit on her, all Francine keeps saying is "No," which keeps De Niro from coming with things for his character to say. Apparently, most of the dialogue was improvised and Scorsese had no control over it.Characterization is another major problem. Jimmy Doyle is supposed to be a guy who has a passion for music, but other than his scenes playing the saxophone, there doesn't seem to be much of an indication. He mentions it in one or two dialogue scenes, and one creative shot in the film where he plays under a light post shows off that passion, but besides that, you could easily miss that part of his character. He is also very annoying. Because of all the improvisation, De Niro just seems to be phoning in his performance and plays the character as extremely socially awkward with a temper, and as a guy who will not shut up. Nearly every time he started talking, I groaned in exasperation. The only real time when Jimmy seems to have any depth is during a large part of the second half where it is clear that he is jealous of Francine's constant career boosts while he struggles to get anywhere. Nobody calls him out on his flaws, either.Minnelli's Francine doesn't fare much better. Very little is revealed about her, except for her passion for singing, similar to Jimmy. She doesn't seem to be making that much effort to make her own decisions as a character, and while putting up with Jimmy for so long is admirable, it was so nonsensical, that in some of the later scenes, I kept thinking, "Just divorce this guy already." Thankfully, when Jimmy is not present, Minnelli makes the character shine with her singing skills and the last forty minutes are a treat due to that reason alone.For the most part, the production design looks well-done, although a few sets are obviously fake, although, Scorsese also made this a directorial choice. The design mostly stands out in some of the later scenes when Francine is making a career of her own away from Jimmy, such as when it revels in its "Happy Endings" musical number. Of course, Francine does sing "New York, New York," and while Frank Sinatra is usually identified with the song, Minnelli's voice arguably goes even better with it, as it is smoother and has much more energy.To conclude, New York, New York had plenty of ambition, but it's let down by the frustrating-to-sit-through dialogue scenes and the characterizations of both De Niro's Jimmy and Minnelli's Francine. I've complained about musicals that include songs which stop the story and go on for too long, but here, the story is what goes wrong. This film was a box office flop for United Artists, and while the film did hurt Scorsese as a person and as a director for a time, he did eventually bounce back with some hits throughout the 80s and 90s.

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.

If you worship Martin Scorsese, then maybe you think this movie is a masterpiece, or whatever.But, if you are anyone else, you are likely going to find two-and-a-half hours of Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli endlessly yelling at each other VERY hard to take! They pretty much just argue constantly. And, De Niro seems like he's playing a character so unlikable, it's like he's warming up for "Raging Bull." He treats Minnelli like garbage, and you just want to take a baseball bat to him pretty much throughout the whole film.The Kander and Ebb songs are great. And, some of the music staging works very well. But, that's pretty much it. One conceit is that Scorsese seems to be wanting to recreate that shot-on-a-backlot feeling. But, for someone from New York City, it definitely seems odd that Scorsese is shooting this movie pretty much anywhere BUT New York City!I think this is the movie where Scorsese said he was hopped up on drugs the whole time. Not much of an excuse, considering he was spending other people's money.The only good thing to come from this movie is that the song "New York, New York Theme" which was soon after recorded by Frank Sinatra.***** (5 Out of 10 Stars)

V-J Day in 1945, saxophonist Jimmy Doyle (Robert De Niro) is mercilessly pestering girls for phone numbers. He eventually spots Francine Evans (Liza Minnelli) sat on her own and so he begins working on getting her number, but she refuses. After an eventful night, the two end up sharing a cab, and Francine ends up joining Jimmy at his saxophone audition. She also begins to sing, and the two and snapped up as a double act. And so begins a journey through the glitzy heights of 1940's and 50's showbiz, as the two fall in and out of love and experience the highs and lows of the business.Martin Scorsese's epic homage to the musicals of the 1950's was originally cut down from four and a half hours to just over two hours for its cinematic release, only to be panned by critics. It was then re- released years later with 20 minutes of footage restored, to critical acclaim. The section that was restored was the musical number that showed a film-within-the-film called 'Happy Endings', that Minnelli's character stars in. Much like the long ballet sequence in The Red Shoes (clearly an influence here - one of De Niro's alias' is M. Powell), it's a dazzling twenty minutes that looks less like a homage and more like a scene taken directly from an MGM musical. Mr. Scorsese clearly knows his cinema.Yet when the film is not pleasing the eyes with the musical numbers and sweeping cinematography, we are forced to sit through the breakdown of a poisonous marriage between two generally unlikeable characters. Jimmy and Francine are both fiercely career-driven, and the film shows how damaging this can be, but De Niro's egotistical musician is virtually the same character that was developed better in the likes of Mean Streets and Raging Bull. Minnelli, an actress/singer I've always failed to see the appeal in, is just not good enough to breath life into her already thinly-realised character.However there is much to admire. Nobody can capture the spirit of the old films like Scorsese can, and he goes some way homaging the likes of Singin' In The Rain and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The sets, cinematography, camera movements and every else in the technical sense are excellent. It's only the story that is lacking. It seems to be determined to be labelled an 'epic', but the 160+ minute running time does not have enough going for it to hold the attention that long.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com