"NY-LON" (review)

Stephen Moyer and Rashida Jones

NY-LON is about Edie Miller (Rashida Jones), a New Yorker who lives and works in a record store on the Lower East Side and Michael Antonioni (Stephen Moyer), a London banker. It’s a seven episode series shot on location in 2004 on two continents first shown on Channel 4 in Britain; now free to us on Hulu.

Nearly all love stories are a variation on Romeo and Juliet, bridging wide social and sometimes economic gulfs. This one has a twist: it’s not just a gulf, it's the Atlantic Ocean. Edie’s in London with her roommate Astrid, on holiday visiting a friend, a getaway she can barely afford on her income from the record store and the adult literacy class she teaches in Brooklyn. Her handbag is stolen as she walks along the Thames. She’s lost everything; not just her money but her cell phone as well. Taking refuge in a loud and busy pub, she borrows Michael’s to call her friends and ask for help. They have one of the best “meet-cutes” I’ve ever seen. Watch the clip:



At the beginning, Michael doesn’t care much for Edie. He doesn’t think she's anything special. With his income and rugged good looks, he could open his mobile and call a dozen just like her. Although she’s given up smoking, Edie’s stressed out and craves a cigarette. (Apparently in 2004 England, one could still permitted to smoke in bars.) So she tries to bum a smoke from him. Since he’s got a drink or three in him, Michael decides he’ll have a little sport with her. He says he won't give her one, but he’ll sell it to her. After she disgustedly gives him 53 pence for the one cigarette, all the money she’s got, she then has to borrow money from him for a cab.

Rashida Jones

A bit of reasonably plausible deus ex machina follows, and the meet-cute is set in motion. Eventually, we discover (before they do) that despite all their differences (which of course translates into “opposites attract”) they both have a shared love and responsibility for their respective families. Edie seems to have no immediate family, so she’s the earth mother to her friends. She’s the one they go to for advice and support. Michael is the eldest in his family, the provider; looking after his younger sister’s (paying her college tuition), a worthless brother, a nephew - Angelo - his brother fathered, and Angelo’s mother, who’s unrelated by law or blood, but who depends on Michael for Angelo’s private school fees.

Stephen Moyer

They’re drawn to each other, separated not only by the Atlantic Ocean, but also by their love and ferocious loyalty to their familes.

Roger Leatherwood, my smarter and better former writing partner, taught me you never want the viewer to say “HUH?” With one line of dialogue (Michael saying he hates email), the producers force the two to use transatlantic calls mobile to mobile, which costs a fortune. (They don’t even bother with prepaid calling cards.) Michael can afford that but Edie can’t. Even though it was a successful device in that shameless two-hour AOL product placement You’ve Got Mail, no doubt the producers felt they couldn't portray email with the same urgency as a phone call. In 2004 I can’t believe two twenty-something literate and non-destitute people don’t use email. I found it hard to believe Michael or his housemate Raph don’t have a laptop at home but I did believe Edie and her roommate Astrid don’t have a computer in their apartment. And of course, she works in a record shop. A record shop that doesn’t check prices or sell on eBay. So in a way, she’s as much an anachronism as the records she sells. Aside from this speed bump, NY-LON works.

Rachel Miner

The producers employed a device in NY-LON which is not novel but gives it a fresh look. It’s shot in high-definition wide screen, with an aspect ratio of 1.78/1. This presents the director a much larger palette on which to compose his storytelling. He creates a collage of two, three, or four shots together, showing different events occurring simultaneously. Superimposed is a graphic showing the time in “NY” and “LON” (using a 24-hour clock rather than AM or PM). NY is always on the left and LON is always on the right, as a visual underscoring of the transatlantic divide. It’s a very clever bit of storytelling.

Navin Chowdhry

NY-LON has some nice parallel construction, interweaving three additional relationship arcs in various stages of blossoming or withering. When parallel construction is done well, each arc echoes aspects of the other arcs, and to continue the metaphor, together, they reinforce the general theme. NY-LON does it well. The supporting cast was well-chosen, with Navin Chowdhry as Raph, Michael's housemate, and Rachel Miner as Astrid, Edie's promiscuous roommate.

Channel Four in England only made the one series of seven episodes. Running time is about 45 mins. with a few brief (one minute or less) commercials inserted by Hulu. Casual sex, some brief nudity, and frequent profanity make this unsuitable for adolescents or younger. (One personal note: I was jarred to see so many of the characters smoking.)

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