Movie Review for New York Minute

Summary: Today is the biggest day in the super-organized life of uptight overachiever Jane Ryan. She’s due to give a major speech at Columbia University for a competition to win a prestigious scholarship to Oxford University. Meanwhile, her rebellious sister Roxy is planning to ditch school and go backstage at a Simple Plan music video shoot in Manhattan, where she’ll slip her demo tape to the band’s A & R team. Despite having so little in common and so much emotional distance between them, the adversarial sisters reluctantly journey together to the Big Apple, but their plans go wildly awry when a mix-up involving Jane’s all-important dayplanner lands them in the middle of a shady black market music piracy scheme. Sidetracked, sideswiped and hotly pursued from Chinatown to Harlem by whacked-out truancy officer and a wannabe gangster, Jane and Roxy reluctantly join forces and find unexpected romance with a charming Senator’s son and a handsome bike messenger. If Jane doesn’t recover her dayplanner--and the crucial speech inside it--she can kiss her college scholarship goodbye. If Lomax finally catches up with Roxy, she’ll be drummed out of high school for good. Roxy and Jane seem to have everything going against them--but anything can change in a New York Minute!

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Mike DeWolfe of Apollo Guide (7/0)
            The further you are from being a teenage girl, the less likely this movie is going to appeal to y...

By Phil Villarreal of Arizona Daily Star (7/0)
            Uncle Jesse and Joey must have been too busy to make appearances. Lucky them.

By Neil Smith of BBC (7/0)
            A hectic, overcooked sugar rush of a movie.

By Wesley Morris of Boston Globe (7/0)
            It's written, directed, performed, photographed, edited, and marketed on a fifth-grade reading le...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
            A textbook example of a film created as a 'vehicle' but without any ideas about where the vehicle...

By Mark Caro of Chicago Tribune (7/0)
            The sisters, for what it's worth, boast a certain amount of charm.

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Mark Caro of Chicago Tribune (7/0)
            The sense of calculation is overwhelming, down to the loose threads on Roxy's Metallica T-shirt.

By David Sterritt of Christian Science Monitor (7/0)
            The cast is cute and the action is colorful, but the comedy isn't as captivating as it sets out t...

By Mary Lasse of Christianity Today (7/0)
            Most viewers will likely be checking their watches, probably wishing this Minute were gone in 60 ...

By Christy Lemire of Cincinnati Enquirer (7/0)
            ...New York Minute has all the subtlety of a sitcom, and none of the sense to effectively use...

By Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend.com (7/0)
            Ferris Bueller’s Day Off re-enacted by over-sensualized, underage spider-monkeys.

By Mark Palermo of Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) (7/0)
            The girls learn the value of sisterhood during an afternoon full of freaky encounters with other ...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By John J. Puccio of DVDTown.com (7/0)
            Stanley Kubrick once said, 'If it can be written, or thought, it can be filmed.' Obviously, he h...

By Sean O'Connell of E! Online (7/0)
            Speaking of money, don’t the Olsens have enough moolah to purchase a smarter screenplay?

By Collin Souter of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            Who would have thunk the twins from The Shining should have their own movie?

By David Cornelius of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
            It’s all lifeless material that might have been saved by the leads’ charms, but as it turns out, ...

By Angie Errigo of Empire Magazine (7/0)
            Separately the characters are annoying; together it's unnervingly like watching one actress playi...

By Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly (7/0)
            More bogus than a Gucci bag for sale on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk.

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Eric D. Snider of EricDSnider.com (7/0)
            There is not a minute of it that makes sense. Cause and effect are meaningless. There is no real ...

By Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central (7/0)
            Interesting that the two groups naturally attracted to it are pre-teen girls and dirty old men, a...

By Harry Haun of Film Journal International (7/0)
            Histrionically speaking, the Olsens couldn't be called twin peaks, but they're getting there.

By Sean O'Connell of filmcritic.com (7/0)
            Add a full star if you’ve ever wasted an afternoon dreaming up similar adventures with your Barbi...

By Anthony D'Alessandro of FilmStew.com (7/0)
            The weakest part of New York Minute turns out to be the Olsen Twins themselves.

By Stephen Himes of Flak Magazine (7/0)
            If this is family entertainment, why do the Olsen twins spend 25 percent of the movie naked?

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher (4/3)
            [T]here’s [a] side to the film that nauseates me: the PG-porn undertone...

By Eric Lurio of Greenwich Village Gazette (7/0)
            Ikkkkkkkkkkk!

By Kirk Honeycutt of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
            The movie flows nicely from one wacky episode to the next, and the Olsen girls make pleasant comp...

By Kirk Honeycutt of Hollywood Reporter (7/0)
            The movie flows nicely from one wacky episode to the next, and the Olsen girls make pleasant comp...

By Bruce Westbrook of Houston Chronicle (7/0)
            It's a charming, zestful romp.

By Marc Nix of IGN Movies (7/0)
            A packed-to-the-rafters theater (including 82 males) can't be wrong...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Steve Rhodes of Internet Reviews (7/0)
            Sizzles with unbounded charm.

By Jackie K. Cooper of jackiekcooper.com (7/0)
            The Olsen girls’ “Minute” seems like hours and hours of silly entertainment

By Anthony Del Valle of Las Vegas Mercury (7/0)
            [The stars] never attempt to do anything outside their limited range; like, for example, act.

By Luke Y. Thompson of Los Angeles CityBeat (7/0)
            [No nudity] is shown, but the point is made: guys, they know what you’re thinking.

By Duane Dudek of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/0)
            The only thing missing is a laugh track.

By Martin Scribbs of Mixed Reviews (7/0)
            New York Minute is a deep incision, part of our ongoing national lobotomy.

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Kevin N. Laforest of Montreal Film Journal (7/0)
            Will satisfy young girls and dudes horny for Mary-Kate and Ashley, but anyone looking for wit or ...

By Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (7/0)
            In what alternate universe could we really find an Olsen twin (which one hardly matters) playing ...

By Frank Ochieng of Movie Eye (7/0)
            ...a misguided vanity piece for the twin teenyboppers. Shockingly, this is one pronounced slab of...

By Gene Seymour of Newsday (7/0)
            A coy, frantic attempt at screwball comedy, lightly seasoned and more than a little gummy.

By Frank Swietek of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
            If it actually lived up to its title and lasted a mere New York minute, it might be tolerable. U...

By Jeanne Aufmuth of Palo Alto Weekly (7/0)
            Shouts out a substantial sense of Girl Power to a large and loyal fan base that can officially co...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Sean Burns of Philadelphia Weekly (7/0)
            At last -- a film that will appeal to both the tween market and the raincoat crowd! (Some folks s...

By Jon Popick of Planet Sick-Boy (7/0)
            Comes with an inherent disclaimer that nobody but 11-year-old girls are going to dig it.

By Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters (7/0)
            The sheer oddness of this moment cannot be overstated, as the Olsens are exemplary narrow-bottome...

By Linda Cook of Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) (7/0)
            Dear Eugene Levy: Please consider me as a qualified candidate for the position of your agent.

By Kim Morgan of Reel.com (7/0)
            I would rather watch these girls charm their way into Oxford and play a David Bowie cover (good t...

By Ruthe Stein of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            Falls somewhere between a home video and a full-blown movie.

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Ruthe Stein of San Francisco Chronicle (7/0)
            ...the superficial way it is presented makes it impossible to feel anything except relief when Ne...

By Winda Benedetti of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
            Fans of the twins likely will enjoy New York Minute, but this movie probably won't win the gi...

By Ted Fry of Seattle Times (6/1)
            Even when it feels forced, the Olsen twins' appeal -- I freely admit -- remains a two-for-one bar...

By Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine (7/0)
            Revelatory of our collective ignorance and fear of 'otherness,' New York Minute is as dishonest a...

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of Spirituality and Practice (7/0)
            Instantly forgettable thanks to a mediocre screenplay.

By Rob Blackwelder of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
            Harmless, sweet and sprightly — but wholly devoid of original thought.

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Tony Toscano of Talking Pictures (U.S.) (7/0)
            ...too much eye-liner and not enough talent...

By Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com (7/0)
            A terminally lame teen comedy with a grade-school mentality.

By Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone of TheMovieChicks.com (7/0)
            This movie is for Olsen twin fans - and nobody else.

By Lauren Kane of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
            Gordon keeps the pace brisk, and between makeovers and pratfalls, the girls deliver an easy-to-sw...

By Mike Clark of USA Today (7/0)
            Even more insipid than you'd guess, Minute is infrequently made bearable by the cutie-quotien...

By Willie Waffle of WaffleMovies.com (7/0)
            When Bob Saget is the best thing you have going for you in a movie, you're up the creek ... New Y...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Christian Toto of Washington Times (7/0)
            The Olsens go the Britney route in this unfortunate Minute

By Susan Granger of www.susangranger.com (7/0)
            As Ashley whines while slogging with Mary-Kate through a sewer: "There is no bright side!"

By John Beifuss of Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            The twin millionaires bust up an international piracy ring to help make the world safe again for ...

By A. O. Scott of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            Mary-Kate and Ashley sprint through Manhattan on the run from a truant officer and a limo driver ...

By A. O. Scott of New York Times (3/5) Login Required (Login Required)
            ...polished and bouncy without being overly mawkish or unduly obnoxious.

By Bill Muller of Arizona Republic (3/4) No reference
            It's generally good policy to be wary of entertainers who are more famous for their product lines...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Melinda Ennis of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (3/4) No reference
            This mayhem in Manhattan with the Olsen twins earns a D for dumb.

By Melinda Ennis of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (3/4) No reference
            So strictly amateur-hour that it could end up as a camp classic.

By Paul Clinton (Boxoffice) of Boxoffice Magazine (3/4) No reference
            After a brisk opening half-hour, New York Minute's promising start devolves into a parade of chas...

By Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times (3/4) No reference
            ...harmless...

By Pablo Villaca of Cinema em Cena (3/4) No reference
            Esta atrocidade poderia representar um embaraço para todos os envolvidos, caso estes tivessem alg...

By Ed Gonzalez of City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul (6/1) No reference
            The biggest cinematic human rights violation since Bad Boys II.

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Jean Oppenheimer of Dallas Observer (6/1) No reference
            Overly broad and silly at times.

By Robert Denerstein of Denver Rocky Mountain News (3/4) No reference
            Engineered to provide the same level of entertainment as a sugar rush, this frantic teen (pre-tee...

By Jeff Vice of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (6/1) No reference
            There are so many completely laughless stretches that this under-90-minutes feature feels conside...

By Richard Roeper of Ebert & Roeper (3/4) No reference
            ... an awful film.

By Vince Koehler of Entertainment Spectrum (3/4) No reference
            Mayhem rules and this slapstick comedy offer a lot of action, sudden turns, and some wild and cra...

By Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat (3/4) No reference
            All that's really resolved is that the Olsens aren't very accomplished actors, and a plot as cont...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Guylaine Cadorette of Hollywood.com (3/4) No reference
            ...a big-screen feature with a direct-to-video plot.

By Jim Slotek of Jam! Movies (3/4) No reference
            Just know that it never gets sitcomish enough to make adults squirm with homicidal rage, it's fun...

By Louis B. Hobson of Jam! Movies (3/4) No reference
            Ashley and Mary-Kate are passable actors, which puts them in the same league as Hilary Duff, Aman...

By James Sanford of Kalamazoo Gazette (6/1) No reference
            Here's a movie aimed at young girls that must have been created with the 'tired businessman' -- o...

By Loey Lockerby of Kansas City Star (3/4) No reference
            It's as if someone took three or four of the Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley videos and stitch...

By Scott Foundas of L.A. Weekly (3/4) No reference
            A fire-sale slapstick scenario.

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Colin Covert of Minneapolis Star Tribune (3/4) No reference
            As sterile and devoid of personality as a mall parking lot.

By Nell Minow of Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (6/1) No reference
            Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson are not actresses and they are not movie stars. What they are is a bra...

By Michael Elliott of Movie Parables (6/1) No reference
            An innocuous, superficial romp that follows a pair of sprightly girls as they prance, mince, mug,...

By Jami Bernard of New York Daily News (3/4) No reference
            Carefully designed for maximum blandness.

By Megan Lehmann of New York Post (3/4) No reference
            ...frantic, crudely constructed...

By Stephen Whitty of Newark Star-Ledger (3/4) No reference
            The story is supposed to be about the twins' adventures in Manhattan. Mostly it's an excuse for t...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By M.E. Russell of Oregonian (3/4) No reference
            Oh, yes, New York belongs to the Olsen twins, not vice versa. There's enough self-love to fuel a ...

By Roger Moore of Orlando Sentinel (3/4) No reference
            Pure pablum and tiresome in the bargain.

By Steve Schneider of Orlando Weekly (3/4) No reference
            If there was any doubt that this Olsen twins vehicle would be targeted directly at the dirty old ...

By Gary Thompson of Philadelphia Daily News (3/4) No reference
            The Olsen girls were produced in Burbank, Calif.'s cute-kid laboratories for Full House, have sin...

By Carrie Rickey of Philadelphia Inquirer (3/4) No reference
            Moldering glob of spun sugar.

By Joe Baltake of Sacramento Bee (6/1) No reference
            The surprise is that it's the kind of larky entertainment that can make adults feel younger, rath...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Jim Lane of Sacramento News & Review (6/1) No reference
            It's like watching your neighbor's modestly talented daughters perform -- they're dutiful and har...

By Sean Means of Salt Lake Tribune (3/4) No reference
            [It] has the creepy effect of ensuring we see the Olsens as sexually awakened young women -- all ...

By David Elliott of San Diego Union-Tribune (3/4) No reference
            Veteran observers of the small and famous may watch Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in New York Minute...

By Sean McBride of Sean the Movie Guy (3/4) No reference
            It simply relies on the hope that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have such a devoted fan base that th...

By John Urbancich of Sun Newspapers of Cleveland (6/1) No reference
            Aptly named "Minute" moves easily enough (despite) a silly, shallow screenplay laden with so much...

By Susan Walker of Toronto Star (3/4) No reference
            To say that New York Minute is a vehicle for the Olsen sisters is perhaps a slight to four-wheele...

                         Reviews of New York Minute
By Sara Gebhardt of Washington Post (3/4) No reference
            Viewers likely will have more patience counting down the Olsen twins' last days of childhood than...

By Daniel M. Kimmel of Worcester Telegram & Gazette (3/4) No reference
            [It] may be the first movie that could play in a double feature with either something with Hillar...

By Bob Strauss of Los Angeles Daily News (3/4) Not Reachable
            It's an idiotic and utterly bogus confection, as it must be, but at least it has a pleasing level...

By Chris Hewitt (St. Paul) of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) Not Reachable
            Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen ... have evolved into nimble comic actresses, with expressive voices a...

Movie Distributors
Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Production Companies
Di Novi Pictures
Dualstar Entertainment Group

Movie Studios
Warner Bros. Pictures