Naked in New York

This pseudo-autobiographical comedy, from a first-time writer/director, concerns a youthful playwright Jake Biggs (Stoltz), an aspiring angry young man with a Woody Allen line in romantic-neurotic confession straight to camera. Spurred by the absence of his father and the remoteness of his mother (Clayburgh), Jake's creativity wows his college classmates. But after graduation the spark falters when he settles down with Joanne (Parker). Picked up by a producer (Curtis), Jake hits the big time when a Broadway star (Turner) expresses interest in his work. The film begins brightly, but its agile, astute voice begins to flag as the plot becomes steadily more conventional, and the tone of wry self-effacement veers dangerously close to self-congratulation. An assured debut, nevertheless, scoring some satiric hits against the New York art scene, with Curtis and Turner enlivening matters no end.