Harmless, sweet, and sprightly--but wholly devoid of original thought--New York Minute is the surprisingly smile-inducing big-screen debut of straight-to-video 'tween-queen multimillionaire twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Offering a slightly sharper sense of admittedly lowbrow humor that gives the bright-eyed 17-year-olds an appeal beyond their fan base of admiring little girls (and unsavory old men), the plot finds the girls, of course, playing polar-opposite sisters--one's an uptight, studious conservative, the other's an innocuous punkette rebel--who, over the course of one crazy day in Manhattan, come to a greater appreciation of each other's individuality while being chased by a truant officer and the bumbling henchman for a DVD pirating ring (don't ask). Hackneyed, to be sure, the movie still earns enough mileage from the twins' infectious vivacity, boundless energy, and modest cheekiness to balance out its unimaginative plot and improbable finale, capped by an inevitably trite, "Today has made me realize something..." speech. Optional. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include a 14-minute “In a New York Minute” making-of featurette, two alternate endings (5 min.), three minutes of bloopers, a three-minute behind-the-scenes slideshow featuring production stills and exclusive photos from Mary-Kate and Ashley's personal collection, and a trailer. Bottom line: an Olsens-fan-friendly extras package for an Olsens-fan-friendly film.] (R. Blackwelder)
New York Minute
Warner, 86 min., PG, VHS: $19.98, DVD: $27.95, Aug. 17 Volume 19, Issue 5
New York Minute
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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