Product Details

• Actors: Olympia Dukakis, Jim Gaffigan, Judy Greer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Thomas McCarthy
• Directors: Danny Leiner
• Writers: Sam Catlin
• Producers: Danny Leiner, Allison Wolf, Amy Robinson, C.C. Lagator, Damon Martin
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English, Hindi
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: First Independent
• DVD Release Date: September 12, 2006
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000GNOHG4
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,359 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Great New Wonderful" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A rich portrait of life in New York in the wake of disaster, The Great New Wonderful offers a kind of compassion rare in film. Five storylines intertwine--including competitive pastry chefs (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Secretary, and Edie Falco, The Sopranos), an elderly woman (Olympia Dukakis, Moonstruck) realizing she can't stand her lumpish husband, and a middle-class parents (Judy Greer, Arrested Development, and Tom McCarthy, Syriana) coping with their increasingly sociopathic child--all of them thick with brilliantly observed social tension. As a therapist (Tony Shalhoub, Big Night) questions a patient (Jim Gaffigan), it's ambiguous whether he's diagnosing the patient's anger or actually causing it. The Great New Wonderful makes compelling drama out of the subtle discords of commonplace life, the kind of frustration and hostility that rises up constantly but has to be tamped back down in order to get through the day--but in the aftermath of a catastrophe like 9/11, the smallest things become unbearable. The Great New Wonderful doesn't rise to the scope of Robert Altman's best work (like Nashville), but it successfully avoids the forced pretensions of other ensemble pieces like Magnolia. Subtlety is too often invoked to excuse a lack of substance, but this movie genuinely makes small nuances tangible and compelling. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Edie Falco, Tony Shaloub, Stephen Colbert and Olympia Dukakis star in this lighthearted comedy about life in New York City one year following 9/11. It’s a comedy about starting over.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Shock can be a tricky thing!", September 17, 2006

By	M. J Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Although it takes a bit long to get off the ground, and it never really explains what it is really about, The Great New Wonderful is a sometimes quirky, always bittersweet exercise in how New Yorkers are soldiering on after September 11th. The portrait is one of melancholy as this disparate and eclectic group of people from all walks of life goes through their paces, consistently jumpy, often frightened and always sad.

For five sets of New Yorkers life in September 2002 is still just as much of a struggle as it was after that terrible day on 2001. Two youthful and nice parents Allison (Judy Geer) and David Burbage (Tom McCarthy) are at the end of their tether emotionally. As their sex life gradually diminishes, they spend their days worrying about their ten-year-old hyperactive son Charlie (Billy Donner) who is disobedient at home and violent to his classmates at school.

Sandie (Jim Gaffigan) is a mild-mannered but tightly wound survivor of 9/11 - apparently he worked on the seventh floor of the World Trade Center. Things would be fine except for the goading of a dotty therapist (Tony Shalhoub) his employers have forced him to consult. Emme (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is an astute and ruthless young cake decorator who owns The Great New Wonderful, a pastry company that has lost out to the Queen of Cake, Safarah (Edie Falco).

Judy Berman (Olympia Dukakis) is a working class senior who is forced to put up with her mechanical husband who does nothing but watch television all day and after dinner retire to the terrace for a smoke. They do not talk and the only thing that keeps Judy going is the artwork she does in their small kitchen. One day, a childhood friend bumps into her, and they reconnect, their friendship perhaps a harbinger of hope.

Best friends Avi (Naseerudin Shah) and Satish (Sharat Saxena) are working class immigrants, who work as security guards and minders for diplomats, particularly for an Indian general who is currently visiting New York City. But their friendship is threatened when Satish is inappropriately rough with a Japanese tourist. Then Avi confesses that he had sex with a young woman and now feels guilty about it.

As these people go about their lives, some of them occasionally cross paths, most particularly in an elevator that stalls between floors, and when a plane flies low overhead, they become wary and frightened. The characters in this drama written by Sam Catlin are very fragile and vulnerable people who often react in anger and violence and who are still trying to live with the consequences of grief.

All are faced with difficult choices and decisions and when things do not go the way they want, they either react with violence or frustration. For the most part, they seem to be avoiding the trauma of 9/11. Not all the little stories and vignettes work - some are even a bit boring in places - but most of the performances, especially a haughty luncheon under a veil of politeness with Gyllenhaal and Falco, are spot on, involving and very revealing. Mike Leonard September 06.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip this one, June 27, 2007

By	Ernest P. Howell (Morro Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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 and I still don't know. As a very open minded person I usually really enjoy the odd movies. This one puzzlles me how it ever got off the ground. If you have a few hours to waste, watch it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the greatest movie, July 1, 2007

By	Sharon E. Elzer "www.eCDBooks.com" (Belton, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To be honest, this could have been a good movie but sadly wasn't. Very slow moving and not funny what so ever.... I also think the 9/11 tie in was to just draw a bigger audience...... Don't buy it. Rent if it is the last thing available (even after checking out the cartoon section at the video store).