Adrift In Manhattan Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
A meditation on isolation and intersection in the big city - the layered story of three characters who find courage to move to the next stage of life through profound encounters with strangers they meet on their daily routes. Rose, an optometrist paralyzed by crushing grief after the death of her infant, has built a wall around herself, unable to relate to her estranged husband or anyone else. When an elderly patient, a painter losing his eyesight, begins to visit her office unannounced, Rose registers how alone he is, urging him to reach out and ask for help—something neither does easily. Meanwhile Simon, a late-blooming teenager with an overbearing mother, photographs people at a distance with a borrowed long lens. One day, Rose, beautiful and melancholy in a vibrant scarf, comes into focus in his camera sight. The pictures he shoots become a conduit for each of them to touch something deep within and expand their confining existence. - Caroline Libresco
| Heather Graham | Rose Phipps |
| Victor Rasuk | Simon Colon |
| Dominic Chianese | Tommaso Pensara |
| William Baldwin | Mark Phipps |
| Elizabeth Peña | Isabel Parades |
| Erika Michels | Claire Phipps |
| Marlene Forte | Marta Colon |
| Richard Petrocelli | Mr. Sneider |
| Sam O'Brien | Man at Poetry Reading |
| Frank Picarazzi | Subway musician |
| James P. Stephens | Waiter |
| Adrianna Bremont | Becca |
| Stefanie Field | High School Student |
| Nicole Kohnen | Karen |
| Alfredo De Villa |
5.20 out of 10 (436 votes)
Visitor Reviews
A meandering film which is ultimately going nowhere
posted on 19 Jun 2009Ah, look at all the lonely people. Adrift in Manhattan focuses on three very lonely New Yorkers whose lives are destined to intersect. Heather Graham has the role which is meant to tie the plot together. She plays optometrist Rose Phipps, a woman who has suffered a great loss and who now lives alone while trying to piece her life back together. Dominic Chianese plays our second main character, Tommaso, an elderly painter, classical music enthusiast and mailroom worker. As we meet him he is being informed by Rose that he is going blind. And then there is young photo shop worker Simon, played by Victor Rasuk. One day Simon sees Rose sitting on a bench in the park and decides to more or less become a stalker, following her around the city taking her picture. He even follows her all the way home, taking pictures of her through the windows. Creepy? You bet.As the film progresses we learn more about each of these characters. We learn why it is that Rose is seemingly alone in the world. We learn that Simon is extremely shy and withdrawn, apparently having very little idea of how to relate to people. This may have something to do with his mother with whom he has one of the most uncomfortably, bizarrely affectionate parent/child relationships ever seen. The focus of the story really is Rose and Simon. Which is a shame because Tommaso is far and away the most interesting character in the film. We see his frustrations as he deals with his failing sight, blindness akin to a death sentence for this simple but proud man who so loves to paint. And we see him fall in love with a much younger woman from his office, Isabel, played by Elizabeth Peña. Their relationship tugs at the heartstrings, their interactions always compelling. And Chianese and Peña easily give the best performances in the film. Rather unfortunately it seems the movie is always rushing through Tommaso's scenes so the focus can get back to Rose.The film meanders about, cutting back and forth between our three main protagonists. But the story never really pays itself off. Tommaso is compelling, Rose somewhat less so, and Simon, barely even communicative, hard to identify with. Eventually Rose does something which makes absolutely no sense, something you would never believe anyone in her position would even conceive of doing, and from there the movie really falls apart. For a film which seemed to have some genuine promise, especially in Tommaso's story, in the end it just kind of limply fizzles out. Chianese did excellent work and created a great character and he and Peña work together wonderfully. But the story which surrounds them ultimately falls flat.
Interconnecting lives
posted on 28 May 2009**SPOILERS*** Originally called "1/9" or the NYC Seventh Avenue subway line that runs the length of Manhattan Island and ends at the tip of The Battery "Adrift in Manhattan" connects three lonely people who live along its route.20 year old camera store worker Simon Colon, Victor Rasuk, is obsessed in photographing people on the streets, as well as subways, of New York. One day Simon comes across this lady sitting in the park and becomes infatuated with her multi-colored, or rainbow, scarf.The lady in question Rose Phipps, Heather Graham, becomes very agitated, and even frightened, when Simon mails a number of photos he took of her at her brownstone.We never quite get what Simon's reasons for mailing his secretly taken photos of Rose were but it almost gets him fired from his job. Instead Rose soon becomes almost as infatuated with Simon as he's with her to the point of inviting him into her home and, to Simon's utter surprise and delight, forces him, a virgin, to make love to her!Like Simon we soon find out that Rose is not all there, emotionally, in that she's estranged from his husband high school teacher Mark, William Baldwin, and is suffering from a deep depression in the tragic loss of her and Mark's two year-old son Casey, Leim De Villa. Rose's sexual relationship with Simon soon starts to effect her work as an eye doctor in her treating a patient of her's the refined elderly and cultured gentleman Tommaso Pensara, Dominic Chianese.Tommaso is slowly losing his sight and in him loving to paint that's as well has him receiving a slow and painful death sentence. Tommaso is also in danger of losing his job in the mail room in that he can't see the letters and packages in order to correctly distribute them. It's Tommaso's co-worker Isabel Parades, Elizabeth Pena, who not only takes the time to help him out at his job but cover up all his mistakes. Isabel also falls in love with the some 75 year old bachelor who for the first time in years feel that he's wanted for himself not his talents; in his music and his art.All three main characters, Rose Simon and Tommaso, in the movie interconnect with each other due to their proximity to the 1/9 subway line. And it's that very reason that makes their lonely and desperate lives, who are aimlessly adrift in Manhattan, that much more worth living!
A wonderful film that stays with you
posted on 21 Feb 2009"Adrift in Manhattan" tells three intertwining tales of life along Manhattan's 1 subway line. (The film was originally called "1/9," but was probably changed due to the 9 recently being discontinued.) The first concerns an optometrist (Heather Graham) haunted by the death of her child and no longer able to make a connection to anyone, including her estranged husband (William Baldwin). The second deals with a teenager (Victor Rasuk) with a disturbing home life who can only relate to the world through a camera lens. The third deals with an elderly painter (Dominic Chianese, best known for playing Uncle Junior on "The Sopranos") rapidly losing his eyesight as he discovers love with a younger woman (Elizabeth Pena).I don't give this film a 10 rating lightly...I don't gratuitously hand out the highest ratings to films. But I loved this movie, and I love movies like this: character-driven dramas with solid plots in which the featured players take interesting, unexpected paths. "Adrift in Manhattan" is filled with great characters who could each be the single focus of a film. It's to the credit of director Alfredo de Villa that he manages to fit them all within the confines of this roughly 90 minute movie in such a satisfying manner.The acting is excellent. Heather Graham gives a carefully nuanced performance that should serve to remind people she can be a great actress when working with solid material and a skilled director. William Baldwin is a revelation. Here you realize the magnitude of his potential, and how he is not "just one of the Baldwin brothers." Victor Rasuk manages to be both creepy and sympathetic, and it's a credit to his talent that you wind up rooting for him more than anyone else. Dominic Chianese gives a heartbreaking performance, and proves to be an actor of great depth. Anyone expecting to see traces of Uncle Junior will be surprised. It makes one hope he stays with us a long, long time so that we can see the full realization of his talents now that the spotlight is on him and he's better able to get good roles like this. I could go on and on about the stand-out performance by Elizabeth Pena, but time is limited.There's a raw, leave-nothing-to-the-imagination sex scene between Graham and a certain character (trying not to divulge any serious spoilers here) that is not only surprising (given how, when Graham shot it, there were very high hopes for her ABC sitcom and for her becoming a network prime time queen), but cathartic and wholly satisfying in terms of character arc. It is shocking and unexpected when it comes, but makes perfect sense when you realize the film has been building up to it.Best of all about "Adrift in Manhattan," de Villa effortlessly presents a New York City vibrant in all of its diverse glory, not only in terms of race, but age, class, mental stability, aspirations, and broken dreams...the way the city truly is. This isn't the fake, lifeless, Midwest fantasy New York you find in "Friends," "Sex and the City," "The Devil Wears Prada," and most sitcoms and movies of the last several years. This is the real New York as presented through the gaze of narrative film.Travel along the 1 train in Manhattan and you'll find a million stories, with each one leading to a million others. (A real life, non-virtual MySpace network.) De Villa and co-writer Nat Moss take three interconnecting ones, and the result is an amazing film that not only provides an ideal showcase for the actors involved, but also serves notice to the film-making community that a talented director has arrived. Let's hope some studio or mini-major pays attention.
Very Slow and Offensive
posted on 15 Dec 2008I know what this movie wanted to be. It wanted to be an ensemble movie of people facing traumatic cornerstones in their lives and overcoming, with the usual connection of characters such as movies likes Crash, 20 Bucks or Short Cuts. A noble gesture and not exactly original but OK. However , the fact of the matter is that besides being slow , this movie did what so many other movies seem they feel they have to do... Go right to seediness. A movie that is supposed to be inspirational, challenging , interacting and about making new friends turns into a flick about glorifying mentally warped individuals. By that I mean the glorification of a stalker. Not only was the stalker glorified but rewarded by cheap role sex as well. From an Oedipus complex stricken young man to an eye specialist , beautiful lady that just lost a toddler to an older, underachieving mail clerk losing his eye sight we have the proponents of a could be good movie. With a supporting cast of a vastly younger coworker, in love with older man and the separated husband of the eye specialist, trying to work things out after tragedy. I rambled enough, just thought the movie had great potential but it failed to deliver.
Utterly Amazing!
posted on 15 Dec 2008I recently had the distinct pleasure of seeing Adrift in Manhattan at the HBO Latino Film Festival in New York. The film made me laugh, almost brought me to tears and definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. The character development is unbelievable in this film. Heather Graham, William Baldwin, Dominic Chianese and Victor Rasuk (who I have loved ever since Raising Victor Vargas) all give multi-dimensional performances. Victor's character drew me in; Heather's character kept me guessing. You could tell there was something wrong by the distant/ unhappy look in her eyes. William Baldwin was extremely convincing as a husband trying to reclaim his life. Most impressive of all was Dominic's performance. It truly almost brought me to tears. Oh, this movie also has a VERY STEAMY SEX SCENE!
Enjoyable movie
posted on 07 Nov 2008I enjoyed the movie. Didn't expect a lot and was pleasantly surprised by the storyline, the characters and the development. It is one of the movies that doesn't give enough information about the characters (on purpose) so that it leaves you with questions and wanting more. The inter relation between the characters is extremely light so that normally annoying feature actually added to this film. Some of the features of the movie are a little disturbing but I wouldn't consider them weird enough to prevent most people from enjoying the movie. For me a 7 means I enjoyed it and would definitely watch it again. I just wouldn't be thrilled to have paid $10 to see it.
Covering your pant hole with a black pen for a night out at the opera...brilliant
posted on 28 Oct 2008The director's deftness in quietus and deep story telling was truly moving in this movie. I believed and was heart felt by all the character's love connections and especially the beautiful love story between older couple Tommaso and Isabel really killed me... The Oeudipal relationship the son has wih his mother was totally believable as well.It is a NY movie and thank god for it. That kind of intersecting of lives with a voyeurisitc view. In the Big City that never stops. To love, to die, to suffer, to think, to live. I am now totally obsessed with this Mexican American director Alfredo de Villa and look forward to this next movie. Just saw his other Sundnace movie Washington Heights and again the torn artist should was caputured beautifully and more importantly- wamrly. Vivre la indie film and excellent job!
Muffled Manhattan
posted on 14 Oct 2008Adrift in Manhattan is a small, lovingly made, melancholy film about the intersecting lives of various emotionally wounded people in Manhattan. As I watched the film though, I felt something was "off." Then I realized it, the Manhattan in this movie is much too quiet. I lived in Manhattan for years and one of my overriding memories of it is the constant noise; sirens, garbage trucks, horns honking, boom boxes, crazy people yelling, etc. Yet, in this film Manhattan is a quiet, dignified place. If only! I wonder what the film would have been like if it actually had the background noise that's so much a part of the city. I think it would have improved the film and made the characters' loneliness all the more poignant.
Wonderful movie
posted on 27 Feb 2008I really enjoyed this movie. The film has this touching relationship between Heather Graham's character and the young man obsessed with capturing her in photos. At first, I was afraid it was borderline stalking, and I kept on waiting for something bad to happen to the young man. Gradually, the boy's photos reveals something deep and personal about Heather Graham's character. When they do finally meet, the outcome is surprising. All the actors put in good performances, especially Heather Graham. If you like character driven movies, then this movie will appeal to you. I also like the pacing of the film. It's slow and methodical. Often films rush through their stories, but this one takes its time.
Fragments of Coicidence and Connection
posted on 10 Jan 2008Though 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 music lover who lives alone and supports himself by being the 'mail boy' in a large firm: his loneliness is heightened when he discovers he has macular degeneration and will go blind. The physician who makes his diagnosis is Dr. Rose Phipps (Heather Graham) who is grieving from the recent death of her 2-year old child and is unable to continue her marriage to literature professor Mark Phipps (William Baldwin).The threads of coincidence begin to tie these people together when Simon begins to photograph Rose in a manner that resembles stalking, when Tommaso notices and desires and older lady at his workplace, Isabel Parades (Elizabeth Peña) and is encouraged by Dr Rose to share his potential blindness with this friend, and when Rose explores the attention Simon bestows on her, filling an emotional need for both parties. Naturally the development of these intersections is more complex but at the same time the manner in which they develop is very tender and gentle.Some viewers may find the film meandering a bit too much: this is not linear storytelling but rather shifts in incidents and moods and gradual changes that occur among these simple but needy people, much like the coincidences and random kindnesses occur to the sensitive eye. The cast is very fine and the cinematography and musical score sustain the mood of the piece. This film requires involvement on the part of the viewer, and that involvement has its rewards. Grady Harp
A dry movie, lacking entertainment or cinematic value
posted on 04 Oct 2007Although I usually find interest in interwoven character story lines from films such as Crash or Magnolia or Babel, I couldn't get my interests up for this one.Now I'm not here to complain that the movie lacked explosions, action or a whole lot of plot twists - it doesn't attempt to be that kind of movie. The few plot driven elements are rather scarce and are mostly there to drive forward the characters rather then the story. The story itself is never the planned focus anyhow. It is my appreciation that some attention to have a more involving plot would have done the work a service.In terms of execution (acting, directing) the effort is certainly solid although never really stellar : you won't find anything really worthy of seeing the movie on it's own. The problem therefore is the very blueprint on which the execution rests, and as I pointed earlier, the material given is too dry to make the movie a memorable one.There just isn't enough happening here to make this one worth the look. Nothing much was achieved, and the journey alone wasn't exactly thought provoking nor entertaining. It isn't awful mind you, just very forgettable.
When they say "adrift," they weren't kidding!
posted on 19 Aug 2007Skimming through the nine comments previous to mine, they mostly seem to be from New Yorkers or New Yorker wannabes. If one does a general survey of this IMDb comments site, they will notice that comments coming from a film's location shoots tend to be disproportionately positive. Since New York City is notorious for attracting and harboring a coterie of people best described as self-centered navel-gazers who don't give a rap about the rest of the world, maybe it's not surprising they smugly go ga-ga over ANYTHING New York: Andy Warhol proved they'll even wax poetic over a 48-hour flick just showing paint drying, as long as it's set in New York.If this creepy movie had been shot here in Rosebush, with a mom flashing her bare tits at her 20-year-old socially crippled son, who then loses his innocence doing Rollergirl doggie-style while beating her butt and telling her she's a bad mom because her toddler fell out the window while she was on the phone, and next stumbles across Nasty Mom Number Two's blind patient lashing out angrily with his cane in a local transit hub, New York moviegoers would accuse our town of being an inbred backwoods hell-hole with nothing to offer the world culturally.For non-New Yorkers in search of something serious set in the Big Apple, go see DOUBT. For those wanting to see a well-done movie about intersecting lives, rent the Los Angeles-set SHORT CUTS. But if you want your skin to crawl watching a series of random amoral anti-erotic incidents happening to uniformly implausible characters, perhaps you also belong ADRIFT IN MANHATTAN.
Great movie
posted on 30 Mar 2007I often get annoyed at movies like this, where you get too many character threads interweaving. These types of films tend to spend too little time on the characters, and thus have to rely on superficial plot twists and clichéd conflicts. I put Crash and Babel in these categories. Both enjoyable enough films, but they fail at their core because they focus too much on the events that the characters face, rather than their response to them. Enter "Adrift in Manhattan." The ambition here is less than a Crash or Babel -- it's not trying to explain the modern angst of society or draw global interconnectedness links -- but rather to simply explore the lives of a small group of characters in a one city whose lives happen to intersect. As a result, we get to really know them, see what's driving them (shockingly, through their acting and the filming, and not uninteresting plot twists -- most of the intense events that drive them all took place prior to the film), and then watch how it unfolds. There are no neat plot resolutions. Rather, the characters are left with their lives, but hopefully with a more evolved sense of where they fit in it, and how to take control of it. For me, this is great storytelling and a perfect kind of character-based film. In addition, nearly all of the performances are exceptional. Heather Graham seems to have pushed herself in a completely different direction from her typical fare. Anyone who thought she was just fit for light-hearted role (and I include myself in that group) is in for a remarkable surprise. Her character is grieving heavily, but Graham never overdoes it. Instead, she lets the grief speak for itself, and the result is undeniably moving. Ditto for a handful of moments that are truly hysterical. It's a revelation to see her play a comedic moment in a drama without laying it on. Similarly Victor Rasuk is exceptional, particularly given the dearth of actual lines he has. His eyes, his posture, and his hesitancy give his character the depth that it needs. He's a completely different character from the one we saw in Raising Victor Vargas. Withdrawn, shy, insecure... and yet, his camera convincingly and effectively draws him out of that. And perhaps the sweetest storyline is that of Dominic Chianese and Elizabeth Pena, whose tentative romance is one of the most tender I've ever seen on film.This movie is an honest 10. Everything in it is earned. The script is very strong, and not overpowering or contrived at any point. The cinematography is beautiful, and really catches the flavor of a real and gritty Manhattan. And finally the direction is superb. Given the tightness of the script, the movie has to rely on shooting to really show us the characters and what they are feeling. And it does so exceptionally. I recommend it unequivocally to anyone who enjoys a very well crafted character-based drama.
something's adrift for sure
posted on 10 Aug 2009Watched it, enjoyed it, but...Adrift in Manhattan follows the lives of 3 main characters for a very brief period, each having a problem. They connect at some point in the movie, but it isn't clear why they connect or why it results in something, if it does at all. I really don't need to have everything layed out for me, but some clue as to what is happening would be nice.Spoiler: I only read here that their lives seem to connect cause of some subway line, or it is supposed to revolve around that. I never would have guessed that, so there is something pretty wrong with the movie. Actually i was wondering if some of them were living in the same building, or if it was all just coïncidental. Characters don't have a lot of lines so you get no information from there; no interesting dialogues. The acting is OK. Camera-work is OK, its all pretty OK and i didn't fall asleep, but I'm pretty sure a few weeks from now i won't remember what this movie was about at all. I don't even think i know what it's about now. (?!) If the object was to show coïncidence on peoples lives, Magnolia is by far superior to this one. If the object was to depict people dealing with huge personal problems i know a lot of movies that pass this one left and right. So i guess i don't get what this is about, what the object was, or they messed up.Something's adrift in Manhatten for sure, but what that is remains the question.