RATING:
PG for mild sensuality and thematic elements
GENRE:
Comedy
STARRING:
Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Eugene Levy,
Andy Richter, Darrell Hammond
DIRECTOR:
Dennie Gordon
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
Alison Greenspan
PRODUCER:
Christine Sacani, Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate
Olsen, Denise DiNovi, Robert Thorne
WRITERS:
Emily Fox, Adam Cooper, William Collage
DISTRIBUTOR:
Warner Bros.
Please Note
In providing movie reviews on our site, CBN.com is not endorsing or recommending films we review. Our goal is to provide Christians with information about the latest movies, both the good and the bad, so that our readers may make an informed decision as to whether or not films are appropriate for them and their families.
MOVIE REVIEW
'New York Minute'
By Dr. Tom Snyder
Reviewer, MovieGuide Magazine
CBN.com
New York Minute is a light, frantic teenage comedy
that picks up steam as it goes along, but that has some moral problems
in the resolution to its story conflicts.
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, affectionately known as the Olsen twins,
play Jane and Roxy Ryan, respectively, two very different sisters
who have grown apart. Jane is studious and conservative to the point
of being annoying, while Roxy is a wild teenager who cares only for
loud rock and roll, an annoying trait in itself.
Jane has to deliver an important speech at Columbia University, which
could land her an Oxford scholarship in England. The same day, Roxy
plans on skipping school so she can deliver demo tapes of her rock
band to the record producers for the group Simple Plan, who are shooting
a rock video in New York City. Hot on Roxys truant tail is Max
Lomax, a truant officer who thinks hes Dick Tracy, played by
comic actor Eugene Levy.
Roxy gives Jane a ride to the train station, but she unknowingly
gets Jane kicked off the train. At the train station where they get
off, a mysterious Chinese man drops something into Roxys handbag
before the police grab him. Waiting to pick up the Chinese man is
Benny Bang (played by Andy Richter), the adopted Caucasian son of
Ma Bang, the criminal owner of a Chinese restaurant whose sons are
helping her steal American music and videos for illegal sale overseas.
The thing in Roxys bag turns out to be a computer chip filled
with stolen music.
Benny tries to kidnap Roxy and Jane. They barely escape, but their
clothes get ruined, so they sneak into a fancy hotel suite to clean
up. While there, however, Jane learns that Benny has her journal,
which includes all the notes for her scholarship speech that afternoon.
The hotel rooms guest, who just happens to be a senator, has
left her pet Chihuahua, Reynaldo, in the suite. As Jane makes arrangements
with Benny to exchange the computer chip and the journal, Reynaldo
swallows the chip, leading to further complications and wild scenarios.
The cast, including the Olsens, and characters are appealing enough
to turn New York Minute into an enjoyable 92 minutes. The filmmakers
have wisely decided to include some funny TV comics in the shenanigans,
although Andrea Martin, Eugene Levys co-star on Canadas
SCTV in the 1970s, and Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live
are under-utilized.
New York Minute is aimed at younger fans of the Olsen twins,
but it does contain some light potentially objectionable content.
For example, theres the question of how to retrieve something
that a dog has swallowed. Also, Jane is such an organized neat freak
that she places three paper coverings over the toilet seat before
she sits down, even at home. Furthermore, in one scene, Jane, clothed
in only a towel, runs after the dog when a handsome young bike messenger
she met earlier accidentally runs into her with his bike and falls
on her, with only the towel between them. Finally, at the end of the
movie, a lie resolves some of the story and character conflicts, and
Roxys truancy from school is never punished.
Thus, while the second half of New York Minute is loaded with
funny situations and characterizations, the movie is not as morally
uplifting as it could have been.
Please address your comments to:
Barry M. Meyer, Chairman/CEO
Warner Bros., Inc.
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522-0001
Phone: (818) 954-6000
Website: www.movies.warnerbros.com
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine: For
more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide
Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at
www.movieguide.org.
Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood
by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing
media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly
movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide
now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org.
The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative
articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise
consumers.
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