Brenda Cullerton is one of New York’s singular voices. She is the author of six books, among them the memoir The Nearly Departed (Little, Brown), Geoffrey Beene: The Anatomy of His Work and the novel The Craigslist Murders; a longtime writer on fashion and design whose clients have included Vogue, Donna Karan and Bergdorf Goodman; and the writer and performer of the one-woman show Jay Z and Me, staged in New York and at the Edinburgh Fringe. Her review of Anthony DiMieri’s LOVE New York for Bushwick Daily is the first time she has written more than a punch line in many years. Follow her on Instagram at @brendasidioms.
Imagine if Harry met Sally on a Hinge date and Sally ghosted him, or, as in the case of LOVE New York, Anthony DiMieri’s marvelous debut film, she was a vegan with chronic smiling disease (and yes, it’s a thing) obsessed with Insta and salad who ended up sobbing and chatting about throwing herself on the tracks.
Mordantly funny and also poignant, the film explores a series of urban relationships that seem to function a lot like the subways. Like those mornings you jump, optimistically, on an express train that suddenly turns into a slow-moving local and still skips your stop. Presumably not because someone’s jumped on the tracks. Mixed signals, missed connections, emotional derailments and moments of joy, all conspire to create an ensemble film as idiosyncratic, wildly alive and hopeful as New York itself.
Unlike movies that feature the city as little more than a spectacular backdrop, New York lives at the very heart of DiMieri’s film. It is a defining force, a spirit, that animates, consoles, energizes. This is no coincidence, of course. DiMieri was the man behind the camera and the now-legendary campaign that elected Zohran Mamdani as mayor. He has also shot multiple seasons of Subway Takes and Keep the Meter Running with Kareem Rahma. He is a man who loves New York, a local whose intimate knowledge and affection for the city informs every scene.
Thanks to that intimate knowledge, locations feel both familiar and exotically unfamiliar: a bizarre New Age boutique in Brooklyn where a man desperately searches for an apology gift for his girlfriend after getting a hand job at a bachelor party, a 3 a.m. rave in a Bushwick bar (DiMieri is a devout raver) as well as park benches, bistros, and an oh-so upscale furniture gallery in Queens where a couple breaks up over the purchase of a $6,800 chair. She wants it. He doesn’t. His remarkable cast of professional actors and friends like Rahma, Johnny Gaffney and others work seamlessly together, bringing a millennial POV to life, love and the pursuit of happiness in an impossibly sinister, complicated age. Jump on the subway and go there.
LOVE New York, directed and written by Anthony DiMieri, screens Oct. 9 at the Bushwick Film Festival.
Advance tickets for the screening at Williamsburg Cinemas are sold out, and the festival lists it as rush line only. Follow @lovenewyorkfilm for future screening announcements.
The LOVE New York team says it is looking to begin conversations with film distributors.
Brenda Cullerton is an ex-writer and wannabe comic. She lives in New York City and posts more than occasionally @brendasidioms.
Featured image: Courtesy Luce Nera Pictures
