Once upon a time in New York City….they swiped right.
After directing a bunch of short films and working on some tv-series, it’s time for Jonah Feingold‘s feature film debut, Dating & New York. A clever mix of classic & modern romcom tropes that explores both cheesy & everyday dating tribulations.
Feingold’s millennial rom-com, which he also wrote, debuted earlier this year at Tribeca Film Festival. It tells the story of Wendy (Francesca Reale – Stranger Things) and Milo (Jaboukie Young-White – Someone Great), who don’t really know what to do with their love lives but just like everyone else on dating apps they find each other and give it a go. Where better to fall in love than in The Big Apple and have your first kiss in front of a wall of garbage bags? After a great first date, they ghost each other, but when the app that initially “matched” them suggests they should re-meet, Wendy and Milo agree to enjoy all the benefits of a relationship without being in a relationship. This obviously doesn’t exactly go as planned, and things start to get very complicated.
Francesca Reale and Jaboukie Young-White’s chemistry works a charm, while Catherine Cohen (The Lovebirds) and Brian Muller (The Deuce), who play their best friends, are delightfully outlandish. Grant Fonda‘s inspired score plays like a supporting character, never leaving the lovebirds’ side and putting you in that well known classic romcom mood in the likes of When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. Together with Feingold’s jokes-a-plenty script, this all contributes to the overall enjoyability that makes Dating & New York one of the most pleasant surprises of 2021.
IFC Films will release the film on Friday, September 10th in select theatres and everywhere films are rented digitally.
Reviewed on September 9, 2021 (screener provided by IFC Films). Rating: M. Running time: 91 min.
PRODUCTION: An IFC Films release of an MXN Entertainment and York Ave Department of Motion Pictures production. Producer: Joaquin Acrich. Executive producers: Spencer Barkoff, Ferrara, Tracy Kopulsky, Matthew Lev, Mason Novice, Francesca Reale, Craig Swidler, Sam Weinstein and Jaboukie Young-White.
CREW: Director/writer: Jonah Feingold. Editing: Hanna A. Park. Music: Grant Fonda. Cinematography: Maria Rusche.
CAST: Francesca Reale, Jaboukie Young-White, Catherine Cohen, Brian Muller, Jerry Ferrara, Arturo Castro, Taylor Hill, Alex Moffat and Jonah Feingold.