Occasionally, he takes one of his forlorn people on a stroll through the city at night and speeds up the action, as if they were fast-forwarding on a tape. The audience may wish they could fast-forward through the rest of the movie, which takes a slice from too many lives to adequately develop the characters. His theme appears to be the inability to communicate despite an urban setting in which you can't help but run into people. Characters shout to make themselves heard in conversation in a loud bar. Strangers make assignations by telephone through a dating service.
Couples talk past each other or stop trying at all.
Indeed, many of these folks seem to have given up in some way. But their lives have become so dreary that we're inclined to do the same, neutralizing the somewhat hopeful ending. All rights reserved. Click here for Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.