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Sidewalk Stories

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Sidewalk Stories

R

1989

1h 37m

Comedy

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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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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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s r

An ambitious silent vision. Saw it on TCM.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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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

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Audience Member

My all time favorite movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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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

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Audience Member

The best movie ever !!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

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Charles Lane

Director

Charles Lane

Artist

Nicole Alysia

Child

Sandye Wilson

Young Woman

Darnell Williams

Father

Trula Hoosier

Mother

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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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