Naked in New York is narrated in flashback by Jake Briggs (Eric Stoltz), a young aspiring playwright, culminating in the production of one of his plays off-Broadway by agent Carl Fisher (Tony Curtis). The play is a flop, at least in part because the lead parts are given to two actors, Dana Coles and Jason Brett (Kathleen Turner and Chris Noth), who are “not right” for the roles.
Along the journey, Jake reviews his relationships with girlfriend Joanne (Mary-Louise Parker), best friend Chris (Ralph Macchio), his mother Shirley (Jill Clayburgh), and his mostly absentee father Roman (Paul Guilfoyle). The film ends with Jake and Joanne going their separate ways, mostly because of competing career goals, and Jake hoping to write more plays with greater success.
Naked in New York is a 1993 American romantic comedy film starring Eric Stoltz, Mary-Louise Parker, Ralph Macchio, Jill Clayburgh, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, and Kathleen Turner, and featuring multiple celebrity cameos, including William Styron listing all of his authored, penned and film work, Whoopi Goldberg as a bas-relief mask, and former New York Dolls singer David Johansen as a talking monkey, which were arranged by executive producer Martin Scorsese.
Film Review for Naked in New York
In directing his first feature, “Naked in New York,” about how hard it is to be an aspiring young playwright, Dan Algrant manages to make film making look wonderfully easy. Mr. Algrant’s agile, self-deprecating wit and his flair for ensemble comedy make “Naked in New York” as knowing and clever as it is charming. Although the film maker is a protege of Martin Scorsese (Mr. Scorsese served as executive producer), his dry, offbeat style recalls someone else. “Naked in New York” is descended, in the most funny and refreshing way, from “Annie Hall.”
The resemblance goes well beyond the fact that this film’s hero, Jake Briggs (Eric Stoltz), is a bespectacled, red-haired fellow who tends to worry a lot. Or that his girlfriend, Joanne White (Mary-Louise Parker), is a sly, winsome neurotic who never fully says what’s on her mind. “Naked in New York” also ponders the problems of trying to combine love and work, the lure of ambition and the terrors posed by any prospect of permanent commitment. And none of it is made to look easy. When Jake is a little boy, he is seen coaching his mother (Jill Clayburgh) with the phrase, “I am the master of my emotions,” which turns out to be a hearty joke for them both.
At 25, Jake approaches all his worries with appealing nonchalance, as when he begins the film by saying: “One of the few things that I know about life, other than that it ends, is that it’s a good idea to be with someone during it. Preferably someone you love.” Mr. Algrant, who wrote the film with John Warren, doesn’t overburden such lightweight observations, but his film is more thoughtful than it initially sounds. Its characters remain ruefully perceptive about one another even when the pressures of love and work threaten to drive them far apart.
“Naked in New York” is loosely narrated by Jake, whose memories have a suitably antic quality; he can recall himself as a baby, on the lazy susan at a table in a Chinese restaurant, on the day his parents split up. Later, Jake recalls living in Cambridge, Mass., across the street from a nut factory (“driving the local squirrels mad from the constant roasting”), and falling in love with Joanne. At the same time, he makes his first stab at playwriting with a short piece about a homicidal lumberjack. A teacher (Roscoe Lee Browne) praises his craftsmanship, but adds: “On a personal level, I think you might want to go talk with someone in health services.”
Jake is coaxed from Boston to New York by his friend Chris (Ralph Macchio), an aspiring actor, who thinks breaking into the theater depends on being where the action is. Meanwhile, Joanne is hired by Elliot Price (Timothy Dalton) to work at his art gallery. Overnight, she begins looking as if she loves her work a little too well.
One of the film’s nervier sequences has Elliot flying Jake and Joanne to Martha’s Vineyard on his private plane (“Why is Patsy Cline playing on the tape? Is that a joke?” asks a terrified Jake) and including them in a celebrity-packed literary party. “Before they were movies, I read them,” Jake manages to say — flatteringly, he hopes — to a deadpan William Styron. Mr. Algrant is savvy enough to satirize the idea of celebrity cameos while making sure that his film features them everywhere. David Johansen provides the voice of a helpful orangutan, Eric Bogosian and Quentin Crisp turn up at the same party, and Whoopi Goldberg is part of a talking frieze on the front of a New York theater.
“Naked in New York” deftly divides its attention between Joanne’s new life in the art world and Jake’s New York theater experiences. (The details are often exactly right; Joanne’s favorite photographer isn’t Cartier-Bresson, it’s Mary Ellen Mark.) In Manhattan, Mr. Algrant has found a particularly fertile setting for his film’s brand of urbane humor. His Manhattan fixtures include Tony Curtis, letter-perfect in the role of a lovably crass off-Broadway producer, and Kathleen Turner as a leonine soap opera star who yearns alarmingly for more stage experience. “She makes the boat float, don’t you understand that?” asks Mr. Curtis, as he insists on miscasting her in Jake’s precious play.
Mr. Algrant switches gears with impressive ease when he moves from satire to more serious concerns. The film includes a surprising, beautifully acted scene involving a sexual overture made in the midst of a New York party. This gentle encounter is troubling for both parties, and Mr. Algrant captures it with empathy and intelligence: qualities that keep even the zanier moments in “Naked in New York” from feeling like fluff.
“Naked in New York” is made even more entertaining by Angelo Badalamenti’s inspired score, and by a production design that keeps the film as visually interesting as it is verbally bright. The casting is full of welcome surprises, particularly Mr. Macchio’s grown-up performance in a quiet but important role. Mr. Algrant’s showier directorial tricks — swiveling camerawork, occasional fantasy sequences — sometimes try too hard, but his talent is never in doubt.
Even before spring was in the air, this was shaping up as an exceptionally rosy season for ensemble-minded romantic comedy. Along with “Reality Bites” and the especially enchanting “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Naked in New York” qualifies as one more warm, seductive delight.
Naked in New York (1994)
Directed by: Daniel Algrant
Starring: Eric Stoltz, Mary-Louise Parker, Ralph Macchio, Jill Clayburgh, Tony Curtis, Timothy Dalton, Lynne Thigpen, Kathleen Turner, Calista Flockhart, LisaGay Hamilton
Screenplay by: Daniel Algrant, John Warren
Production Design by: Kalina Ivanov
Cinematography by: Joey Forsyte
Film Editing by: Bill Pankow
Costume Design by: Julie Weiss
Music by: Angelo Badalamenti
MPAA Rating: R for sexuality and language.
Distributed by: Fine Line Features
Release Date: April 13, 1994
Hits: 234
