Swedish Auto and New York, I Love You

Swedish Auto
What happens if you are stalking someone and then you find out someone is stalking you so then you stalk that person. Swedish Auto answers this question … lugubriously (how do you like that word? :) Lukas Haas plays a sad sack auto mechanic who is in love with a beautiful violinist so what’s a guy to do but follow her around town, meanwhile an abused waitress fancies the mechanic and hovers outside his abode. The waitress is played by the beautiful January Jones of Mad Men fame and she hardly seems like she could be a stalker. If you think this movie might be a light-hearted and wacky (as I hoped it would be) you would be wrong. Rather it’s a story about a bunch of surly down and outs who try to find moments of happiness in a dreary life. Sound fun, doesn’t it?


New York, I Love is a collection of short films directed by people like Mira Nair and Natalie Portman with a myriad of famous actors in brief pieces: Bradley Cooper, Andy Garcia, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman (acts and directs), Orlando Bloom, Ethan Hawke, Anton Yelchin, James Caan, Julie Christie, John Hurt, Shia LaBeouf , Chris Cooper, Robin Wright Penn, and Cloris Leachman. This is part two of a series. Paris, Je T’aime which I wrote about was the first film. Like that film, this movie is a hodge podge of some good and some what the heck is goin’ on here? But I think Paris, Je T’aime seemed more connected to real people’s problems. New York, I Love You, begs the question: Why do I love you, New York? You are so crude and banal.