Adrift in Manhattan features an ensemble cast, including Heather Graham, Victor Rasuk, Dominic Chianese, Elizabeth Peña, and William Baldwin.
Rose, an ophthalmologist, has separated from her husband, a school teacher, and is in deep mourning over the recent death of their two-year-old son, who accidentally fell out a window.
Alfredo De Villa came up with the concept of Adrift in Manhattan while flying to a festival in Havana, Cuba, to present his 2002 film Washington Heights: While I was naturally thrilled and excited, I was also exhausted.
I realized--at least, based on my personal experience--that while we have all of these technological advances that takes us from the most recondite to the most elegant cities in the world, we're essentially left emotionally (not to say spiritually) at bay.
"[2] The screenplay for Adrift in Manhattan was written by Nat Moss, who previously worked with De Villa on Washington Heights.
[3] The final screenplay was sent to Scott Foster, who would become the co-producer, and sent to UTA and Steve Brown, who would handle financing and became the main producer.
"[1] De Villa said the script was much darker in earlier drafts, but that it was toned down due to financial reasons: "The scenes between the mother and son were a lot more explicit, and we had to stay more at the level of hint and suggestion.
In preparing for her role, Graham not only imagined what it would be like for the character to experience the death of her toddler but was also actually depressed due to circumstances in her own personal life.
[5] Simon's incestuous relationship with his mother in Adrift in Manhattan was based on De Villa's complicated family history.
[7] Julia Wallace, critic for The Village Voice, wrote "that you can't build a movie around lingering, soulful shots of the No.
"[8] Variety writer Dennis Harvey said, "Mild thesp marquee value and the glut of similar, often bolder exercises in recent memory make this a so-so theatrical prospect, though it should do OK in cable and DVD arenas."
"[9] In an article for The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis called it "an all-too-familiar wallow in urban woe and artfully photographed isolation" and concluded, "If there are eight million stories in the Naked City, some of them must be better than this.
"[10] Scott Weinberg of Moviefone wrote, "While not exactly what you'd call a bad movie, Adrift in Manhattan is simply too predictable, familiar and obvious to warrant much in the way of attention or enthusiasm.
"[12] On the more positive side, /Film's Peter Sciretta said it was a "pleasant surprise" that "provides an interesting and intimate snapshot of the life of everyday people in New York City," awarding it a seven out of ten.
[13] Emanuel Levy opined, "De Villa's meditation on loss, loneliness, and alienation in urban New York is downbeat, slow, studied, and a bit pretentious, but it's nicely acted by the entire cast, particularly Victor Rasuk and Dominic Chianese."
"[16] Jack Matthews of the New York Daily News gave it three out of five stars and named it "a small film with great humanity and deserves a broader audience than it's likely to get.
"[18] Houston Press critic Nick Keppler wrote, "Fans of Paul Thomas Anderson or Atom Egoyan may want to take note of Alfredo De Villa," calling him "the next great American drama master.