Movie time

New York, the movie

Engaging movie. Taut. There was an editor in the house actually..:)...I love movies which are well-edited...Naam - a notable example. Anyway, this movie starring John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Irrfan Khan was good. Peformance wise (with no surprises): Irrfan > >> Neil > Katrina ~ John > the stilted random American actors.
Music flowed in with the story...no jarring notes. I liked the realistic portrayals of New York neighborhoods especially Brooklyn.

Some minor quibbles:
Quibble 1: Where were the families? conveniently absent I guess...at least one of them could take care of the kid after his * SPOILER ALERT * parents are dead!
Quibble 2: The students on the American University campuses in Hindi movies seem to be having waay more fun and games and bonhomie than I have seen ...with all the time spent on campuses..
Quibble 3: Where do the actors who play Americans come from? Some parallel universe where even poor John would come across as a great thespian in comparison...lol!

Well these are minor points...it was well-made and understated even though *SPOILER ALERT* I did not understand why Katrina had to die....too sad.

John manages to emote a bit in some of the scenes...his pure-heartedness and charm still shines through (sorry, having a tough time being objective..;)..nevertheless, I admit he is the weakest actor except the director is clever enough to give him less speaking time. Katrina is good as the idealistic and sympathetic Maya. Neil is the best out of three (which is not saying a lot)...his shy and hesitant demeanour makes him the most real character out of these three. He infuses some passion in his role. Irrfan can sleepwalk through such roles and yet he does not. His witty everyday remarks (especially the one about his hatred for pasta) makes me wonder every time (in this movie and others) if he writes his own dialogues or does the writer suddenly get creative... a true actor he is.
Special bonus points for the director Kabir Khan....He did not make another thoughtless and predictable love story/action/drama. I did not have high hopes from this one and I was pleasantly surprised...Go Kabir!

Overall rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars
Pros: slick editing, good music, Irrfan, sometimes Neil, beauty on display (JA and KK)
Enough said.