SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
Kayden
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
Claudio Carvalho
In New York, the French director of the World Bank Mr. Devereaux (Gérard Depardieu) is a pervert and womanizer, partying and participating in gang bangs with women. When he tries to rape the hotel housekeeper in his room, the woman reports to the police. Devereaux is arrested, affecting also the life of his wife Simone (Jacqueline Bisset)."Welcome to New York", by Abel Ferrara, is a long, uneven and inconclusive film based on the New York v. Strauss-Kahn case. The story shows the lead character Devereaux as an egocentric, pervert and sick womanizer through excessive sex scenes and his relationship with his daughter and wife. When he is released in house arrest, the screenplay is developed at a very slow pace and is boring. However the lack of conclusion is terrible. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Bem-Vindo a Nova York" ("Welcome to New York")
losriley-1
This film has many different rhythms and paces. At first the prolonged sex scenes last so long that they became uncomfortable and disturbing.Although the sex with the prostitutes was consensual Depardieux grunted in almost pig like fashion as he lost himself in debauchery and lust. It had the feel of a porn film but with believable characters. The scenes with Depardieux and Bissett often have the feel of improvisation particularly at the beginning. It would have been nice to have seen more of the victims reactions to the abuse that they were subjected too. The unrepentant nature of the lead character is alarming and brutally honest.He does not seek to be cured even after his arrest makes his life fall apart. He shows no feeling for his victims and just is a serial abuser. His blunt attempts at seduction is seen to be successful in one instance due to his wealth and status and overt womanising. Like Bad Lieutenant this film delivers moments of brutality and spiritual abandon. In both films the central characters are spiralling out of control. The Gauguin nudes on the walls of the apartment are well placed. In all despite the lengthy sex scenes and drawn out almost real time arrest the film is well constructed and well acted. The surreal almost "bad actor" dialogues between Bissett and Depardieux as they confront the aftermath of his arrest fluctuates between the inane and the poetic. I really liked the line that,"The reverse of Love is not hate but indifference" delivered by Bissett. The fact that this film is based on true events adds weight to the subject matter. A difficult film to watch and an adult film on more than one level.
s3276169
Even a good cast can not save Welcome to New York from the label of mediocre. The film tells the tale of a lecherous, moneyed Frenchman who is accused of raping a housemaid whilst staying in a ritzy New York Hotel. Gerard Depardieu offers up a reasonable if not exceptional performance as the male lead. His character is a rather revolting, dissipated type who is driven primarily by sex, which he equates with a disease.His character is not that complex and as such, not terribly interesting. By contrast, his long suffering wife, played by Jacqueline Bisset, offers up a passionate performance as a woman driven to pure exasperation and despair by a man she still loves in spite of his conspicuous faults. Its a very personal drama let down by limited character development and the rather stunted story line which leaves the viewer asking what it is they have just witnessed. Indeed, Welcome to New York really amounts to little more than a reiteration of life's realities, that the world is an unfair, unjust place where money makes a huge difference and the dysfunctional go on being dysfunctional.Five out to ten from me.
SAM WISER
could this be that this film was made out of spite or jealousy? besides a few naked bad looking women, this film tried to portrait Dominic Khan as a woman eater - puffing and punting like a dog - i think its peculiar and stupid. no element of the intriguing follow up of the juridical case, no insight as why Mr khan needs to poof like a dog when he clumsily touches a woman, like a wild fifteen year old kid.i cannot see anything that could possibly come close to portray the man called "the seducer" - a man who allegedly had the worlds prettiest at his feet. I've never rated a film so badly, nut this is totally petty.