Love in the Time of Money (2002)

In the provocative style of SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE, LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONEY is a seductively riveting story starring Steve Buscemi (GHOST WORLD, FARGO), Rosario Dawson (25TH HOUR, MEN IN BLACK II), and Jill Hennessy (TV's CROSSING JORDAN, EXIT WOUNDS) in an all-star cast! What do a hooker, an embezzler, an art collector, a receptionist, and a bored housewife have in common? More than you think! For nine unique New Yorkers, one day becomes a turning point in their lives when their erotic encounters interconnect. You're sure to agree with critics everywhere who praised this exceptionally sexy motion picture and its high level of entertainment!

Mesmerizing

To me, one of the best films I have seen. The plot ties together every situation until it comes full circle. I don't purchase many films but had to have this one after seeing in on cable. Not a love story! November 3, 2008

cycle of life

A collaged pastiche of events where everyone involved is connected to each other somehow, as you would guess after about the first 20-40 minutes of watching the movie. Some of the ways people are trying to have a conversation or turn each other on or off is quite comical. There are too many short stories where I felt like I wanted them to develop the story more, but people would not have been interested in watching the entire thing then. Also, to make a really good story for each scenario could have easily allowed the movie to go over 4 hours. I guess it does leave room for many sequels or extra movies, but it's hard to make a collage and impress a critical audience.

You could tell the story had to be made to that everything would just connect together, and sometimes they had to stretch the storyline to make it come together in one collage. Basically, the movie starts off with a whore who gets picked up by a contract worker, the contract worker later makes love to another's housewife, the husband of the housewife discovers more than art in an artist, the artist steals someone's girlfriend (Nick's girlfriend), Nick falls in love with a psychic, the psychic falls in love with a suicidal crook, and naturally the crook runs into you can probably guess which one of the characters. May 6, 2006

Story is so uninhibited that makes the film like a reality

I think the way people interact with each other in this film is direct, intuitive, and unpredictable, and that makes this film so interesting to watch, wondering what they do or say next. Although the expression is uninhibited, the film is never obscene or dirty at all. The sexual content in this film are all expressed naturally.

If you are interested in visual art you would enjoy the film. I like the characters in the film because they are all open minded, cultureally educated, honest, artistic and creative.

It is interesting that the prostitute that shows up in the beginning of the film reappears later on and plays a role to the entire story. The structure of the sotry expansion is well made. I always enjoy a film when something you saw in the beginning finally makes sense in the middle or end of the film, and it is the case in this film.
April 2, 2005

Cool Beauty

The existential outlook on love in NYC is crafted for the mind. You are constantly surprised by the actions of the characters played by a group of my favorite actors (Jill Hennessey, Rosario Dawson, Malcolm Gets, and Steve Buscemi). It gives off an ashen and contemporary aura which really pulled the movie together for me. The film is like an abstract painting. October 27, 2004

A Narrative Failure

Based loosely on Arthur Schnitzler's text "Reigen/Liebelei," Love In The Time Of Money depicts a human concatenation of sexual liaison between individuals who hardly know each other and could care less. And to what end? I, for one, could hardly decipher a reason for this exercise in existential malaise and gratuitous fornication. Despite the film's auspicious provenance (it credits Robert Redford as an executive producer and Sundance Institute as a progenitor), a cast of talented actors, and a moment or two of artistically consequential cinematography, I was thoroughly disappointed by what impressed me as a pointlessly languid depiction of desultory sex engaged in by aimless, unhappy people. Remarkably, Peter Mattei's direction and script were so poorly realized that even an inspired and almost always entertaining actress like Jill Hennessy turned in a performance that fell flat on its face in several early scenes of this woefully misguided project. Her painful, uncharacteristically self-conscious portrayal of an affection-starved wife on the prowl was, in fact, so stilted and motivationally confused that I was actually embarrassed for her as I forced myself to watch! There were, however, a few moments in the middle of the picture when I thought (hoped) that something of interest was germinating on the screen. As, for example, when Steve Buscemi in the role of an aspiring painter attempts to get Rosario Dawson, playing a secretary employed by the art gallery where he intends to show his canvases, to model for him. But once the tension in this duet of awkward seduction quickly and inevitably devolves into meaningless sex I was sadly reminded once again of how Mattei's vision of alienated 'love' refused to get out of its own way for even a minute's respite. ...I submit these comments as a service to those who are contemplating what I was unable to avoid. March 13, 2004

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