Sidewalks of New York

REVIEW
Writer-director Burns borrows just a little too heavily from the pages of Woody Allen for this somewhat pretentious romantic comedy that nevertheless offers a witty look at love, marriage and sex in modern New York City. Nicely enhanced by pseudo-documentary moments in which the characters share their feelings with the audience, Sidewalks of New York is strident at first, with nearly everyone coming across as terribly self-absorbed. But, like the film, they soon grow on you and become a bit more complex. In a story of the love lives of six Manhattanites whose lives intertwine, Burns plays a TV producer who is romantically involved with two women, each of them bringing some emotional baggage into the relationship. As writer, Burns does cop-out in a few of the stories and never makes any astounding, deep observations, but Sidewalks of New York still manages to be an involving, amusing film with good performances to detract from the overall familiarity.