similar and yet different and from his other film ( the brother mcmullen and ` she the one ) and writer or director or producer or actor edward burn and with his typical minuscule budget and broach on woody allen territory this time a he explore the ooohs and aaahs and owwwws ( mostly the owwwws ) of the marriage and dating game . the sight and sound of new york be in the air a the movie zero in on six disparate manhattanites and all of whom try their damn to find the no real answer to happiness . no belly laugh here and but a lot of know smile . this brash and perceptive and ultimately win cyclical comedy first introduce u to good look and nice guy tommy ( ed burn ) who have just split up with his girlfriend and have be throw out of her apartment . tommy take a sudden interest in evasive school teacher maria ( rosario dawson ) and whom he meet in a video store . maria be divorce from small and tough talk schlmiel ben ( david krumholtz ) and a doorman and rock musician wannabe who cheat on her . ben and still pin for maria and find a welcome distraction in edgy student or waitress ashley ( brittany murphy ) and who be have an affair with a much old and married dentist and griffin ( stanley tucci ) and whose suspect wife annie ( heather graham ) and a real estate agent and have her eye on one of her customer and tommy ( back to ed burn again ) and who be ( remember . ) look for a new pad since his girlfriend kick him out . so much for the kevin bacon six degree of separation and divorce angle . to punch up the thought process of our six relationship mind specimen and burn have give his film a documentary or reality tv feel . each of our protagonist express their own individual and personal philosophy on the meaning of love and sex with a ` man on the street interviewer . these tell bit be conveniently splice here and there into each of their ongoing story and which be not only a biting commentary on the social scene and but often humorously contradict their action and intent . burn and a native new yorker and give u a passionate and authentic and down to earth vision of his hood . no picaresque postcard image be to be find here . no tourist like view of rockefeller center and the statue of liberty and time square and etc . and just a dress down and down to earth be his solid ensemble cast . the story be evenly lay out with no one performance get short shrift . burn and dawson and tucci and murphy and klumholtz and and graham all have meaty role here and each of their story be well present and attention grabbing . the philander tucci character and the least sympathetic of the bunch and still manage to drum up some pity and if not sympathy and for his subsequent action . what more and the outside circle and the peripheral friend or instigator or colleague and etc . and add immeasurably to the humor and atmosphere of the piece and particularly aida turturro a a worldly wise teacher or friend of dawson and dennis farina a burn overt male chauvinist bos and michael leydon campbell in dual role a a rocker and male half of a bickering married couple and and callie thorne a the bickering wife . no one treat new york well than woody allen . with sidewalk of new york edward burn pay tribute to this fair city and and he pay homage to mr. allen 1992 husband and wife in particular . notice burn analytical approach to his character and the hand hold camera work and jump cut style of edit ( which be actually smooth and less jolt than in allen above mention film ) and the pneumatic jazz score and the reflexive and conversational like banter between his character and the episodic storyline and and and most importantly and the obvious devotion he have for ny . it all but spell out w o o d y. but and in this case and imitation be the sincere form of flattery . he learn well from the master .