The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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New York Stories
Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1989
Three tales of love, ambition, and neurosis unfold in the city that never sleeps. In "Life Lessons" (Martin Scorsese), a tormented painter channels heartbreak into his art. In "Life Without Zoë" (Francis Ford Coppola), a precocious 12-year-old navigates privilege and loneliness in a Manhattan hotel. And in "Oedipus Wrecks" (Woody Allen), a man’s domineering mother literally becomes a looming presence over New York.
Movie details
New York Stories
“One city. Three stories tall.”
1989 Comedy · Drama · Romance 2h 4m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.2 / 10
Community rating
Three tales of love, ambition, and neurosis unfold in the city that never sleeps. In "Life Lessons" (Martin Scorsese), a tormented painter channels heartbreak into his art. In "Life Without Zoë" (Francis Ford Coppola), a precocious 12-year-old navigates privilege and loneliness in a Manhattan hotel. And in "Oedipus Wrecks" (Woody Allen), a man’s domineering mother literally becomes a looming presence over New York.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over New York Stories?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Plaza Suite
Comedy · 1971
Film version of the Neil Simon play has three separate acts set in the same hotel suite in New York's Plaza Hotel with Walter Matthau in a triple role. In the first, Karen Nash tries to get her inattentive husband Sam's attention and help save their failing marriage. In the second, brash film producer Jesse Kiplinger tries to seduce his former one-time flame Muriel. In the third, Roy Hubley and his wife Norma try and persuade their daughter, a bride to-be with cold feet, out of the bathroom before her approaching wedding ceremony.
Other People's Money
Comedy · 1991
When a corporate raider threatens a hostile takeover of a 'mom and pop' company, the patriarch of the company enlists the help of his wife's attractive daughter—who is a lawyer—to stop the takeover. However, the raider soon becomes infatuated with her, and enjoys the legal manoeuvring as he tries to win her heart.
Arthur
Comedy · 1981
Arthur is a 30-year-old child who will inherit $750 million if he complies with his family's demands and marries the woman of their choosing.
New York, I Love You
Comedy · 2008
New York, I Love You delves into the intimate lives of New Yorkers as they grapple with, delight in and search for love. Journey from the Diamond District in the heart of Manhattan, through Chinatown and the Upper East Side, towards the Village, into Tribeca, and Brooklyn as lovers of all ages try to find romance in the Big Apple.
The Man from Elysian Fields
Drama · 2001
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
Is This Thing On?
Comedy · 2025
As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family—forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.
Before We Go
Romance · 2014
A chance encounter between two strangers in Grand Central Terminal sparks a life-changing, nighttime sojourn through New York City. They grow into each other's most trusted confidants when an evening of unexpected adventure forces them to confront their fears and take control of their lives.
Peace, Love & Misunderstanding
Comedy · 2011
A conservative lawyer named Diane takes her two teenage children Jake and Zoe to meet their estranged, hippie grandmother in Woodstock after her husband asks for a divorce.
200 Cigarettes
Comedy · 1999
In 1981 New York City, a collection of twentysomethings try to cope with relationships, loneliness, desire and their individual neuroses on New Years Eve.
The Broken Hearts Gallery
Comedy · 2020
Lucy is a young gallery assistant who collects mementos from her relationships. She discovers that she must let go of her past to move forward, and comes up with a lovely, artistic way to help herself and others who have suffered heartbreak.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Martin Scorsese · Francis Ford Coppola · Woody Allen
Written by
Richard Price · Francis Ford Coppola · Sofia Coppola · Woody Allen
Nick Nolte
Lionel Dobie
Rosanna Arquette
Paulette
Patrick O'Neal
Phillip Fowler
Mae Questel
Mother
Steve Buscemi
Gregory Stark
Talia Shire
Charlotte
Giancarlo Giannini
Claudio
Court is in session
Put New York Stories on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.