The Great New Wonderful

The only saving grace were the pictures of NYC. Everything else sucked. The story was disjointed and never seemed to connect with anything. I was left scratching my head and wondering if this was a sign of things to come from... Full review

On the DVD, there is a feature where you can watch these five short films by themselves, which are woven into a movie. This is what I would suggest when watching this odd little movie. The humor is extremely dry, and,... Full review

typical inter-woven parallel stories that independently go nowhere. i cant wait for this weak trend in independent films to run its course.... Full review

The cover of the movie said "A brilliant comedy" and I didn't see any brilliance nor any comedy. Half way through I asked my wife if she knew what this movie was about; she didn't know either. It's the next day... Full review

It's admirable that director Danny Leiner and screenwriter Sam Catlin have attempted to tackle the inarticulate emotional toll that 9/11 has taken on a group of New Yorkers rather than tell a more visceral story directly related to the tragedy... Full review

Firstly, I agree with others that this film is barely a comedy. While Shaloub and Steven Colbert segments where worth a smile, overall, this movie is NOT funny.Secondly, I rented GNW having never heard of it. I also didn't know... Full review

The Great New Wonderful is about several groups of people all living in NY after 9/11 and running up to the first anniversary 9/11/2002. Each group has their own demons to deal with, seemingly as a result of the memories... Full review

Very well done. Thought-provoking, and a great acting job by Jim Gaffigan, comedian. He is a wonderful actor. Great story.... Full review

Decent, if not altogether powerful ensemble dramady is a subtle ode to the struggling inhabitants of NYC one year after 9/11, and is being released onto video five years later for the rest of the country to collectively grieve with.... Full review

"The Great New Wonderful" marks the lead-up to a nervous anniversary I vividly remember - September 2002 -- so it is difficult to separate out my own recall of feelings of unease and dread in comparison to the film's portrayal... Full review

This is the funniest segment of the film....Olympia Dukakis laments the choices of her life as a very old friend reappears;....Perhaps the anchor of the piece is the story of a workplace grief counselor played by the great character actor Tony Shalhoub..... ... Full Review

Perhaps that explains why the film is arguably at its best in the lighter moments....While it's not always successful at doing so, this film does have its perceptive, thoughtful moments.....But Gyllenhaal does work wonders with a rather self-involved character.... ... Full Review

upsets the rhythm of the whole-a strong argument for the movie's effectiveness even given its unevenness.....Like the movie's typically vague tagline says:....Leiner catches these moments with grace and truth;....becomes an inescapable backdrop, accentuating the film's fear, resolve, uncertainty, and, finally, heartbreaking hope.....Leiner and writer Sam Catlin are effusive on their commentary track about their intentions, as well as the project's evolution from script to screen;.... ... Full Review

its rendering is among the film's most effective This will be a sort of theme for Danny Leiner's film, uneven but full of rewarding subtleties. That's not to say Emme has lost the capacity for action, or more precisely, reaction. ... Full Review

This may seem like a rip on Stephen Colbert's threatdown. It does bear a resemblance, however, where his threats come from current events, my list is based heavily on what I've seen on film or in books. ... Full Article

This will be news to the screenwriter, first-timer Sam Catlin, who apparently believes that bringing up 9/11 in the last five minutes magically puts everything into perspective. ... Full Article

"The Great New Wonderful" is populated by people you know: New Yorkers you see on the elevator, in the supermarket, at the gym. Without a trace of sentimentality, director Danny Leiner, a Brooklyn native, and his extraordinary cast paints five... ... Full Article

Salon.com once did a relatively famous confessional piece regarding 9/11. Various New York City residents wrote emails confessing their darkest thoughts during the period after the terrorist attacks. ... Full Article

"Shock can be a tricky thing. Sometimes our emotional response to horrific events can be hidden from us at first, only to appear after some time has passed." ... Full Article

The post-9/11 comedy-drama "The Great New Wonderful" manages to capture an emotion that all of this week's political speeches and hot-air punditry have missed: the anxiety felt when grief begins to fade and we're not sure what is going to... ... Full Article