Indie Pick O' The Day: New York Lately

Loosely connected characters living in New York City trying to find out who they are. Yes, the genre has been done a number of times, but somehow New York Lately makes us realize that each obstacle a character faces is one that we all inevitably face in our lifetimes. The film is about a group of New Yorkers who have specific burdens in their lives they have to come to terms with.

The film opens up with introducing us briefly to each of our characters at a New York bar. The first crisis starts with Mark, who just broke up with his girlfriend Andrea. He can't break away from his past with her and every girl that comes within his sphere of influence, looks and speaks just like Andrea. He turns a blind eye to anyone who isn't Andrea and has to decide if he wants to stay living in the past, or move on to living in the aftermath of a long term relationship.

Jared works in the human resources department at his company and tends to have a soft spot for his employees. After an employee abuses company phone policy, Jared feels hesitant to fire him, but knows that it has to be done. As a result, he offers the employee and opportunity to extend his benefits to make the termination less harsh than he intended.

Jared meets Truly a cute aspiring folk singer who works at a coffee shop and resembles Corinne Bailey Rae, is saved by Jared by an oncoming bicyclist. They meet and are instantly attracted to each other and have great chemistry.

Truly's friend Veronica is an aspiring actress who also works at the coffee shop. She is waiting for her big break, but lack a great deal of self esteem in her image and confidence in her career. She questions whether or not becoming an artist is truly what she wants and if its worth fighting for.

Ringo Barnes who is a close friend of Jared's finds himself in compromising situations with women---he likes to pay for them! He also has a warped sense of who and what women really are. However, his friendship with Jared is threatened when Jared is forced to make a business decision that that his boss chooses for him.

Elliot George is a down-on-his-luck writer, who has given up his craft--and whom also suspects that his wife is having an affair. He decides to hire a P.I. to investigate. His P.I., a lovely woman named Samantha, becomes more than just a detective for Elliott and teaches him to trust himself again as a writer and stop giving up on himself.

The film has an interesting style and at times can be jarring using jump cut edits and loops that look more like a music video than a movie. However, it's not overdone and it's used in just the right places that allows the scenes to make some sense. Need to see a New York Indie flick?? Check out New York Lately.

NEW YORK LATELY will hit the film festival circuit in 2009 for more info go to this link

Here is the trailer for the film below: