Director: Paul Bettany
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Jennifer Connelly, Bruce Altman
Running Time: 105 minutes
Synopsis: On the streets of New York City, Tahir (Anthony Mackie) is a homeless illegal immigrant from Nigeria. He meets drug addict Hannah (Jennifer Connelly), who is also living on the streets and suicidal after the collapse of her previous life. They start a friendship that evolves into a romance, and although their fortunes momentarily improve when they secure an apartment, an illness poses another serious challenge.
What Works Well: The desperate daily struggle to find food and shelter is the background context for Paul Bettany's directorial debut. In an unforgiving New York City during the winter, services are scarce and bureaucratic, often leaving Tahir and Hannah on their own and susceptible to external threats and internal demons. Their backstory revelations round them into real people paying a heavy price for character flaws and past decisions, but no less worthy of empathy.
What Does Not Work As Well: The two protagonists are almost too easy to like. Tahir is pious and noble, his transition from a background of violence to a man intent on living honorably presenting a significant narrative gap. Hannah seems to suffer no serious after-effects from a heroin dependency. The scenes of emotional crescendo between them border on contrived, while unsurprisingly, their romance is more transactional than passionate.
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