The Great New Wonderful

R

Released Apr 22, 2005

1 hr. 27 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

73%

41 Reviews

Tomatometer

45%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the year following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, New Yorkers gradually get back to the normal routine of their lives. A successful pastry chef (Maggie Gyllenhaal) struggles to unseat her longtime rival as "queen of cake." A couple (Tom McCarthy, Judy Greer) try to save their marriage and cope with their troubled son. A therapist (Tony Shalhoub) counsels a man who witnessed a violent incident. Two immigrants (Naseeruddin Shah, Sharat Saxena) observe life in the city.

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Critics Consensus

Set in post-9/11 New York, this largely evocative dramedy interweaves the stories of five disconnected individuals who share an unspoken emotional malaise that shadows their attempts at returning to normal life.

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Audience Member

This movie was probably brilliant but it also made me want to die. I've been thinking about it for years since I've seen it, so that's something, but I don't feel like any of those thoughts were positive. This movie is probably a weapon of mass destruction.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Entertaining and moving ensemble movie in the same vein as Steel Magnolias and Shortcuts. While the characters and the subplots are amusing and hold your attention, the cohesion is lacking though.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This film captures the disconnected malaise that New Yorkers felt a year after 9/11. It is subtle and elicits a sense of being lost in the viewer, much like New Yorkers must have felt at that time. A remarkable, but somewhat disturbing series of vignettes that strike home.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

What an interesting movie. It tells the story of a group of New Yorkers one year on from the 911 attacks; how they are coping and living their lives. Nothing is said specifically about 911 everything is hinted at throughout the movie (except for the news report). It's filmed beautifully as it sweeps between the characters' lives ultimately I was left wanting more as the movie is a short hr and 20 mins aprox. The most suprising element of this film was the humour. It's subtle and a little black and for me made the movie. It turned a somewhat depressing movie into something unique. Don't expect something extraordinary - this is a movie about everyday things so watch it for the characters.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not all the little stories and vignettes work (some seem almost pointless), but most of the performances, especially a haughty luncheon under a veil of politeness with Gyllenhaal and Falco, are spot on, involving and revealing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

it is actually wonderful, how relationships beyond the obvious remains so very interesting..

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Danny Leiner

Director

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Emme

Tom McCarthy

Davie Burbage

Judy Greer

Allison

Naseeruddin Shah

Avi

Sharad Saxena

Satish

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Tries way too hard to be clever and shrewd. Danny Leiner (Dude, Where’s My Car?, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle) directed a script by Sam Catlin, and though both have their moments, they’re rarely the same moments.

Sep 12, 2023

Full Review

Bob Longino

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Not all the little stories and vignettes work (some seem almost pointless), but most of the performances, especially a haughty luncheon under a veil of politeness with Gyllenhaal and Falco, are spot on, involving and revealing.

Rated: B-

Aug 31, 2006

Full Review

Chris Vognar

Dallas Morning News

It may be the 9/11 movie to which the most people can relate. For most of us, that date wasn't about personal heroics or losing loved ones or survival. It was about processing the impossible and realizing that life, with all its ups and downs, must go on.

Rated: A-

Aug 25, 2006

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...The Great New Wonderful boasts a pervasively aimless atmosphere that slowly but surely wears the viewer down and ensures that the film's overtly positive elements are ultimately rendered moot.

Rated: 2/4

Nov 29, 2009

Full Review

Prairie Miller

WBAI Web Radio

Candid but hermetic NYC emotional aftershocks Of 9/11.

Apr 29, 2007

Full Review

MaryAnn Johanson

Flick Filosopher

No film that I've yet seen better captures the dismal mood that gripped the city in the wake of the [9/11] attacks...

Oct 13, 2006

Full Review

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Synopsis

In the year following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, New Yorkers gradually get back to the normal routine of their lives. A successful pastry chef (Maggie Gyllenhaal) struggles to unseat her longtime rival as "queen of cake." A couple (Tom McCarthy, Judy Greer) try to save their marriage and cope with their troubled son. A therapist (Tony Shalhoub) counsels a man who witnessed a violent incident. Two immigrants (Naseeruddin Shah, Sharat Saxena) observe life in the city.

Director: Danny Leiner
Executive Producer: Michael Nozik, Amy Robinson, Michael Hoffman
Screenwriter: Sam Caitlin
Production Co: Serenade Films, Sly Dog Films
Rating: R (Some Sexuality|Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 22, 2005, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jun 23, 2006
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 24, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $150.1K

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