Sudden Manhattan (1996)

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In the bizarre style of director Hal Hartley, for whom she performed in The Unbelievable Truth and Trust, actress Adrienne Shelly's debut as a director and screenwriter is a story about a group of young Manhattanites trying desperately to figure out what life is all about. Donna (Shelly) is a restless, jobless young woman with a lover, Adam (Tim Guinee) who is not only impotent but more interested in reading Russian literature than in having sex. Her college professor, Murphy (Roger Rees), is an off-the-wall Englishman who has a secret, unrequited affection for Donna. Donna is neurotic, depressed, and uneasy about life's meaninglessness, to the point where getting out of bed each morning is a chore. Her life changes one morning when she hears a strange rumbling coming from her plate of scrambled eggs. She looks out the window and witnesses a murder, but when the police come, the body has disappeared, and they dismiss Donna's testimony as mad ravings. After seeing several other murders, she fears for her sanity. She consults a gypsy fortuneteller, Dominga (Louise Lasser). Dominga points out a direction for Donna to follow, and she sets off with Adam, her girlfriend Georgie (Hynden Walch) and two eccentric friends, Ian (Paul Cassell) and Alex (John Sklaroff), to investigate the murders. The movie become a surreal descent into existential madness, with an increasingly outrageous, often incomprehensible plot. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Theatrical Feature Running Time:

81 mins

Complete Cast:

Director(s):

Adrienne Shelly

Writer(s):

Adrienne Shelly

Producer(s):

Marcia Kirkley

Theatrical MPAA Rating:

NR(Adult Situations, Questionable for Children)

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