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Derek Malcolm's rating
Lost in the streets of New York
By
Derek Malcolm
21 Sep 2006
Lodge Kerrigan is one of America's most talented marginal directors, perhaps like Terence Davies in Britain.
He makes films rarely, but they are always minutely observed studies of madness and obsession. Not for everybody, of course, but if you want to see a superb performance, watch Damian Lewis in this.
He plays William Keane, a haunted man who wanders New York's Port Authority bus terminal looking for his young daughter, apparently abducted some months earlier.
Nobody is able to help and he returns to his cheap flop-house. There he meets Lynn (Amy Ryan), a single mother, and begins to bond with Kira (Abigail Breslin), her six-year-old daughter. The girl becomes a substitute for his own child in an unexpected way.
Keane allows us to share a harrowing feeling of loss not only through its unblinkingly bleak exterior but through the unforced playing of Lewis, whose damaged father may or may not be imagining the whole episode of abduction.
Steven Soderbergh produced and made his own cut of the film. But Kerrigan's is the more powerful and the one we now see. He has already given us an extraordinary portrait of paranoia in Clean, Shaven, his admired first feature. This film, too, is unlike anything else in the American cinema.
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Reader views (3)
This film is boring. It has moments of suspence and sometimes Damien Lewis acts a bit, but overall I didn't rate it much and I don't know why everyone thinks it's amazing. Probably because it's set in New York and there's no sign of Sarah Jessica Parker in a pink tutu, or Bruce Willis saving the world from destruction.
- Dan, Acton, 27/09/2006 16:12
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I think this is a harrowing film, it follows Damien Lewis who has lost his daughter, and all the emotions that this brings with it. Set in a dominating New York, with sweeping skyscrapers and a sense of how small people are, the photography is great, and really adds to Lewis' despair. This is a different kind of love story, and one I thought was well done.
- Tomas, Ealing, 27/09/2006 16:11
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Damien Lewis is a good actor, but he always has that same 'sexual menace' underneath his exterior, which isn't entirely appropriate for this film which is about him looking for his kidnapped daughter. I'm sure he can't help his facial expressions though, or maybe its me reading too much into his frowns!! I loved this film when I saw it although it is sad.
- Fiona Astley, Wimbledon, 22/09/2006 15:26
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