New York Minute (Widescreen)

 

 

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New York Minute is a pretty darn entertaining film featuring a number of humorous moments, and I'm not just saying that because Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen are drop-dead gorgeous. They are, of course, drop-dead gorgeous, and I admit I only watched this film because of them, but this light comedy proved to be an enjoyable experience in its own right. The plot is rather formulaic and predictable, but it does work, and the Olsen twins really shine throughout the whole thing.

You start out with two sisters (imagine that!) who could not be more different: Jane (Ashley Olsen) is a budding, super-organized genius vying for a prestigious scholarship to Oxford; Roxy (Mary-Kate Olsen) is a bit of a wild child rebel who goes to great lengths to avoid school. Naturally, the girls do not get along very well. On this particular day, Jane is on her way to give the speech she hopes will win her the scholarship, and Roxy is playing hooky in order to attend a video shoot and slip her band's demo into the hands of someone in the music business. Things start going wrong from the very start. Forced to make their way into town by themselves, the girls manage to get themselves involved in a piracy ring, lose their clothes, take on the company of a little dog so ugly he's cute, find themselves on the ledge of a high-rise building, wander the streets of New York City wearing nothing but towels (thank you, writers), evade the clutches of a truant officer with illusions of grandeur, cross paths with Full House dad Bob Sagett (in a quick cameo), model all sorts of funky clothes and hairstyles, race to get Jane to her speech location on time, and eventually - and most importantly - reforge their long-lost bond of sisterhood.

New York Minute isn't Oscar caliber material, but it's a good, funny movie with lots of twists and turns and an overall positive message. That's a whole lot more than most of today's films have to offer. For me, it does seem like a good transition film for the Olsen twins as they evolve from childhood actresses to young adult actresses. It's hard to break a mold that was formed while the girls were still in diapers. While the Olsens may not be ready for truly adult roles just yet (they are, after all, still teenagers), they clearly show the talent to reconstitute themselves as bona fide actresses - singly or together. Whatever limitations New York Minute displays are due to the script and not to Ashley or Mary-Kate. People seemed to expect too much from this movie, treating it as a make-or-break moment in the Olsens' careers, it's unfortunate that this film was not more successful at the box office, but that does not mean that New York Minute is not a good movie - because it is. And, as I think I mentioned earlier, Ashley and Mary-Kate are drop-dead gorgeous.

This is without a doubt the best movie the twins have made since their first, It takes two!!
I have all their movies, and have seen their them at least 100 times over!!!

The cast is great, they have 2 of Hollywoods hottest actors, Jared Padalecki from Gilmore girls, and Riley Smith from Motorcrossed, Eugene Levy is a funny, but brilliant actor, as well as the guy who thinks he's chinese, also known as 'adopted child number 1' and also known as Bennie!!

They couldn't have picked better stars, director, and location, i especially enjoyed the tae-kwon-doe subway scene!!

I have been a fan of MK&A since i was little, i really, truely think this movie is 5 stars!!!

If you've ever wasted valuable minutes of your life wondering what Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are going to do now that their cuddly child star days are behind them, "New York Minute" offers a glimpse of the shape of things to come.

Here's a clue: Think Britney.

Does the world need more vapid, cutesy sex kittens? Probably not, but Teasetown seems to be the next exit on the Olsens' highway to maturity. Throughout "Minute" they are either wrapped in body-hugging "ghetto fabulous" fashions or scanty skirts, or totally nude (albeit carefully photographed to preserve that PG rating, which in this case might as well stand for "pandering guaranteed"). Their faces have been plastered over with enough makeup to coat the entire cast of "Mean Girls."

Here's a movie aimed at young girls that must have been created with the "tired businessman" -- or at least the hormonally charged older brother -- squarely in mind. In one scene, the twins are discovered clad in towels and bathrobes in a hotel room by a leering college-aged man (Jared Padalecki) who snickers, "Is today my birthday?"

There's also a bit in which a bicycle messenger takes a spill and lands squarely on top of Jane. "Am I squashing you?" he asks. "Yeah -- it feels great," she sighs. There's even a wisecrack about Paris Hilton.

When the trio of screenwriters who slow-cooked this turkey aren't thinking up jailbait jokes, they're dishing out sorry stereotypes. A gang of Chinese crooks operates out of a laundry, a la "Thoroughly Modern Millie"; a flamboyant male hairdresser twitters and flutters as he styles the fur on a Chinese Crested dog, announcing with a lisp, "Boyfriend, you a girlfriend now!"; an African-American woman actually calls a white man a "cracker." Guess the raindancing Indians and the swarthy Arabs selling magic carpets must have been mercifully left out at the last minute; perhaps they'll turn up on the DVD.

Even the Olsens get into the act, playing two of the most annoying, obvious adolescent characters you could ever hope to find. Ashley is cast as Jane, a pent-up prig with a 4.2 GPA. Mary-Kate throws herself into the role of Roxanne, a puffball punk who runs around in costumes she might have picked up at Cyndi Lauper and Joan Jett's garage sales; she's a girl who just wants to have fun and she does not give a darn about her bad reputation.

The squabbling siblings are forced to cooperate during a hectic afternoon in the Big Apple when Roxanne is hunted by an inept truancy officer (Eugene Levy, slumming) and Jane's precious day-planner is stolen by a dull-witted criminal (Andy Richter, who doesn't look as ashamed of himself as he should) who wants a computer chip that inadvertently landed in Roxanne's purse. The chip is then accidentally swallowed by a senator's dog, which means everybody spends plenty of screen time trying to get the poor animal's bowels churning.

That all-important little bit of software contains scads of illegally acquired songs that the Chinese villains are planning to burn to CDs and sell. The girls later discover that -- gasp! -- the bad guys' ill-gotten items even include pirated movies. (Perhaps this story was secretly co-authored by Jack Valenti.) Unsurprisingly, "New York Minute" is not one of the contraband titles shown for sale, perhaps because no matter how many copies of this one you made, its street value would still be nil.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty bad movie
Yup. It's bad. And one person said Mary-Kate was fighting a cocaine problem... no. That's just something a few magazines did to get big sales and cause controversy. Read more

Published on July 11 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved NYM!
I am a huge fan of Mary-Kate and Ashley, so naturally I saw the movie at the first showing on the first day it came out. I think they did very well. Read more

Published on July 9 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars this one's for the fans....
If you are not a true, long-time fan of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, you really don't have any reason to watch this movie. Read more

Published on July 6 2004 by MollyRK

5.0 out of 5 stars Response to "Viewer"
I agree that this movie was a feel-good movie. I wouldn't believe everything in the tabloids because I seriously doubt Mary-Kate is addicted to cocaine. Read more

Published on July 6 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Best M-K & A movie ever
I liked this movie. It was there best movie ever. I thoght. I went to go see it twice in one week. I liked it so much . I am going to by it.

Published on July 5 2004 by bunny1721

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Movie!!!!!
This year has been a bad year for Mary Kate and Ashley, well not Ashley at least. Mary Kate we all know is battling anorexcia and is addicted to cocaine and mothers now no longer... Read more

Published on July 1 2004

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