In 2017, 27-year-old British actor Callum Turner starred in the coming-of-age drama The Only Living Boy in New York, an early production and release from Amazon Studios. Despite surrounding the young actor with many big-name stars, the movie failed to find much of an audience after being trashed by critics. Directed by Marc Webb, one of two “smaller” movies for the director after The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel, the movie featured prominent award-winning actors, such as Jeff Bridges, Pierce Brosnan, Kate Beckinsale, and Cynthia Nixon, but there were aspects of it that were going to make it a tough sell, despite trying hard to be a very New York movie.
What Is ‘The Only Living Boy in New York’ About?
Written by Allan Loeb (Things We Lost in the Fire, Collateral Damage), Webb’s fifth feature film was first and foremost a love letter to the New York City of old. It introduces us to Turner’s recent college dropout, Thomas Webb, the son of wealthy parents within the world of publishing, who is frustrated by his relationship with Kiersey Clemons‘ Mimi, who has planted him firmly in her “friend zone.” Thomas finds succor in the new resident of his Lower East Side apartment, Bridges’ quirky author W.F. Gerald, who offers the young man mentorly advice on women and urges Thomas to pursue his own desire to be a writer. One day, Thomas spots his father, Ethan (Brosnan), with an attractive younger woman named Johanna (Beckinsale), and he realizes they’re having an affair. Thomas begins to follow Johanna with Mimi until he decides to confront her, since he doesn’t think his emotionally fragile mother (Nixon) can handle losing her husband. One thing leads to another, and soon, Thomas is pursuing Johanna himself.
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‘The Only Living Boy in New York’ Trailer: Hoo Boy.
I have no trouble believing this movie is from the same screenwriter as ‘Collateral Beauty’.
In a sense, The Only Living Boy in New York tries to juggle several different elements and relationships, taking some time before it’s clear how any of those things are connected. Even the movie’s tricky third-act twist might not succeed as hoped. Furthermore, the movie tries to include an ongoing commentary on the gentrification of New York City—which has become worse since the film’s release—something that feels awkward when transposed with its story of young romance. As much as Webb tried to bring authenticity to the film’s New York setting, filming Thomas’ Lower East Side apartment in an actual tenement building, other, more recognizable New York City locations only went so far in creating a much-needed sense of place.
‘The Only Living Boy in New York’ Just Didn’t Connect With Audiences
In 2017, Loeb was coming off the 2016 Will Smith drama, Collateral Beauty, which received even worse reviews than The Only Living Boy with just 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. This fact was even mentioned when the trailer for The Only Living Boy was posted on Collider ahead of the movie’s release, so it never felt like the movie was going to get a fair shake from critics. It didn’t. At one point, Miles Teller of Whiplash and Top Gun: Maverick was attached to play Thomas, but he was replaced fairly close to production by the lesser-known Turner. Maybe it was tough for critics to fathom someone as beautiful and glamorous as Beckinsale’s Johanna being interested in the significantly younger Thomas, but that twist involving Thomas’ biological father may have thrown viewers for an even bigger loop.
On top of that, the movie was released just a few months after Webb’s well-received true story drama, Gifted, starring Chris Evans, and the movie’s admittedly esoteric title didn’t help matters. In fact, that title comes from a Simon & Garfunkel song, and coincidentally, the movie was released just a month after Edgar Wright‘s Baby Driver, which borrowed its title from another Simon & Garfunkel song. It was a strange coincidence for sure. In some ways, The Only Living Boy in New York was trying to be a literary drama without actually being based on an existing novel. At the time, Webb’s film was trying to offer the type of originality critics and film enthusiasts frequently clamor for but rarely appreciate when it arrives. Despite bombing with a ghastly $2 million worldwide, The Only Living Boy in New York didn’t end any careers, even if Webb would go on to make Disney’s Snow White, a far pricier effort that bombed even worse.