Firstly, I agree with others that this film is barely a comedy. While Shaloub and Steven Colbert segments where worth a smile, overall, this movie is NOT funny.
Secondly, I rented GNW having never heard of it. I also didn't know at the onset that it was about "a post 9-11 New York." So while watching the film, none of that came through, even with the titles, and Jim Gaffigan's comment to "When it all went down." I work in NYC, and probably have the same feelings and experiences as most average joe New Yorkers regarding 9-11. So even if I personally am sensitized to it, I didn't pick up on the theme until the very ending, and even then, it was incredibly under whelming.
Thirdly, while I actually really liked aspects of GNW, like troubled child story, and Cake designer story, much of it was remarkably dull. It also didn't really come together. Not that there should have been a sing a long of all the characters, but the experiences in each of their lives didn't come together.
Speaking of characters, at the video store, when I saw the cast, I thought, "What an awesome cast! They couldn't possibly screw this up." And then they did. Edie Falco is in a single two minute scene. Stephen Colbert has only one real scene, and a pop-in in another. Olympia Dukasis' story is awful. Simply boring. With no point. Her acting is great, but the material she's working with is trite.
I love a good subtext...I love subtle elements of a movie...I love roundabout and interesting ways of doing things. But Great New Wonderful does not achieve that. I was so let down by this film, that I watched the directors commentary to see if he could explain it away (like explaining a joke). Turns out the script was based on a couple of plays that HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9-11.
And that's the jist, folks. Great New Wonderful was a movie where someone said, "Let's do a film about the daily grind of life after Nine Eleven," and everyone around them said, "What a great idea...that sound really important." A lot of local NY celebrities clearly loved the idea.
But in the end, Great New Wonderful just didn't work.
Secondly, I rented GNW having never heard of it. I also didn't know at the onset that it was about "a post 9-11 New York." So while watching the film, none of that came through, even with the titles, and Jim Gaffigan's comment to "When it all went down." I work in NYC, and probably have the same feelings and experiences as most average joe New Yorkers regarding 9-11. So even if I personally am sensitized to it, I didn't pick up on the theme until the very ending, and even then, it was incredibly under whelming.
Thirdly, while I actually really liked aspects of GNW, like troubled child story, and Cake designer story, much of it was remarkably dull. It also didn't really come together. Not that there should have been a sing a long of all the characters, but the experiences in each of their lives didn't come together.
Speaking of characters, at the video store, when I saw the cast, I thought, "What an awesome cast! They couldn't possibly screw this up." And then they did. Edie Falco is in a single two minute scene. Stephen Colbert has only one real scene, and a pop-in in another. Olympia Dukasis' story is awful. Simply boring. With no point. Her acting is great, but the material she's working with is trite.
I love a good subtext...I love subtle elements of a movie...I love roundabout and interesting ways of doing things. But Great New Wonderful does not achieve that. I was so let down by this film, that I watched the directors commentary to see if he could explain it away (like explaining a joke). Turns out the script was based on a couple of plays that HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9-11.
And that's the jist, folks. Great New Wonderful was a movie where someone said, "Let's do a film about the daily grind of life after Nine Eleven," and everyone around them said, "What a great idea...that sound really important." A lot of local NY celebrities clearly loved the idea.
But in the end, Great New Wonderful just didn't work.