Streets of gold

>> Sidewalks of New York is a jaded treasure

by JOANNE LATIMER

At the risk of adding to the recent cheerleading for all things New York, I'll go ahead and praise Ed Burns's new film, Sidewalks of New York. It's a jaded treasure, much like the city itself. Burns could've called it Annie Hall Redux, for all its knowing references to Woody Allen's classic, but there's no boring retread in Sidewalks that mars most homages to Allen. Burns has a made a fresh and contemporary anti-love story populated by latent Romantics.

Burns is clearly back on his game. After underwhelming us with She's the One and No Looking Back, Burns has finally made the fitting follow-up movie to his breakthrough Brothers McMullen (1995). Burns is on his way to earning a place next to Woody Allen as a great chronicler of love and life in New York City--with all its neurotic clamouring and unexpected charm.

Burns, who wrote and directed the film, also plays the lead. He's from Queens and awkward with his Midtown success. His girlfriend just decided she didn't want to have children, so Burns finds himself a bachelor once more. He gets hilarious advice from his colleague Dennis Farina, a self-styled womanizer, and feels attracted to his real estate agent, Heather Graham. She suspects her husband, Stanley Tucci, is having an affair, while Tucci has nooners with his teenage girlfriend (Brittany Murphy).

Burns falls for a teacher (Rosario Dawson), who can't shake her ex-husband, David Krumholtz. He's the most faithful to the Allen shtick, even lifting an oral sex joke directly from Annie Hall. He's a doorman and songwriter who got married too young and is trying, unsuccessfully, to make up for lost time.

Happenstance makes their lives intersect in unexpected ways, shaking their trees and tempting them to take risks for love. A roving videographer interviews the characters throughout the film, asking them their feelings on sex and fidelity. The videographer is always off-screen, making the characters face their own bullshit and pretense. Unfortunately, the first video segment was about how they lost their virginity--setting the bar low for maturity. But subsequent video segments were more revealing, showing the difference between how the characters see themselves and how we see their actions.

But let's be warned: this film could spark a break-up fight with a long-term lover. It inspires confessions and heart-to-hearts of cinematic proportions. See it alone.

Sidewalks of New York opens Friday, Nov. 30