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Sidewalk Stories

Play trailer Poster for Sidewalk Stories R 1989 1h 37m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
79% Tomatometer 42 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
In this almost entirely silent film, a homeless artist (Charles Lane) is forced to play surrogate parent when the father of a young girl (Nicole Alysia) is murdered. Taking the child into the depths of the slums that he calls home, the artist keeps the little girl healthy and happy while doing his best to search for her living relatives. As the artist and the child venture through the streets together, they meet a strange assortment of characters while slowly developing an intimate friendship.
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Sidewalk Stories

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Critics Consensus

Sidewalk Stories' sweetness is somewhat undermined by the movie's broad approach, but it remains a comedy with heart -- and something to say.

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Critics Reviews

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Sheila Benson Los Angeles Times [Lane] has had the audacity to make a black-and-white silent movie and make it in the face of today's shamelessly callous values, with a brimming heart and an activist's outraged passion. Jan 24, 2022 Full Review Eleanor Ringel Cater Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sidewalk Stories is ultimately more successful as an openhearted novelty by a worth-watching new talent than it is as a work of art... Yet this silent film speaks to us with a distinctive voice. Jan 24, 2022 Full Review Harper Barnes St. Louis Post-Dispatch It takes awhile for the contemporary moviegoer to adapt to the deliberate pace and the lack of dialogue, but Sidewalk Stories becomes harder and harder to resist as it goes along. Jan 24, 2022 Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand [Charles] Lane doesn’t try for silent movie conventions or style and he doesn’t attempt any of Chaplin’s elaborate gags. Instead, he offers a wordless story in poetic pantomime with a backdrop of social commentary... Jul 9, 2022 Full Review Bob Ross Tampa Tribune Is there an audience for the Charlie Chaplin style in 1990? Is an updated Little Tramp comedy viable in today's high-tech movie market? Lane's film answers with a gentle affirmative. Rated: 3/4 Jan 24, 2022 Full Review Marshall Fine Gannett News Service Sidewalk Stories is the find of the season -- a small, rough diamond of great heart and humor in a season usually reserved for large projects of too-calculated social importance. Rated: 3/4 Jan 24, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Michael E The Kid? City Lights? Mr. Lane, did you think you could capture the magic? Sorry, not even close. Nice try, but all your frenetic hyperactivity and awkward slapstick can't match the grace and charm of the originals. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/21/22 Full Review s r An ambitious silent vision. Saw it on TCM. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review walter m While there is rioting happening over a taxi on Wall Street, things are much more peaceful a couple miles north as a homeless street artist(Charles Lane, who also wrote and directed) plies his trade while waiting for the IFC Center to open. As he observes the world going by, he also witnesses a brutal murder in an alley. During which, he shields an infant girl(Nicole Alysia) from danger. First off, I applaud Charles Lane trying to do something different by doing something retro where he gives the homeless characters the only spoken words of "Sidewalk Stories." And I am always a sucker for views of a bygone New York City, in this case, from a movie made in 1989. However, there is also the sad irony of a film steeped in realism having a story, especially involving one incident, that does not really ring true at the same time. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member My all time favorite movie Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member I used to go to Cannes every year... Alongside the flunkies there are a lt of very knowledgeable people in Cannes. Of all of the hundreds of films that I saw in Cannes, with the possible exception of 'Paris, Texas', this got the greatest ovation. The delegates (in general critics) were not just applauding or stnading applauding, they were standing on their seats to applaud! I was one of them. This is close to a masterpiece. Not flawless, but wonderful as only a film can be. After a spectacular expressionistic opening, LAne tells a cute, Chaplinesque story of a penniless pavement artist, who rescues a little girl when her father is stabbed. All of this... nearly 90 minutes, is achieved without a single word of dialogue nor intertitles... it is a miracle. But when, in the final moments, we hear the words that have been the subtext of the film... it is like thunder. Shame on anyone who doesn't see the poetry in this wonderful film. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member The best movie ever !!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Sidewalk Stories

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this almost entirely silent film, a homeless artist (Charles Lane) is forced to play surrogate parent when the father of a young girl (Nicole Alysia) is murdered. Taking the child into the depths of the slums that he calls home, the artist keeps the little girl healthy and happy while doing his best to search for her living relatives. As the artist and the child venture through the streets together, they meet a strange assortment of characters while slowly developing an intimate friendship.
Director
Charles Lane
Producer
Charles Lane, Howard M. Brickner
Screenwriter
Charles Lane
Production Co
Palm Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 7, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$13.5K
Runtime
1h 37m
Sound Mix
Surround
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