Movies That Define New York City
by zetec76 | created - 28 Mar 2018 | updated - 16 Apr 2023 | PublicNew York City was made for filming both inside and outside the studio
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1. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 242,889 | Gross: $92.82M
2. Manhattan (1979)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy
Votes: 147,330 | Gross: $45.70M
3. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
PG | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A recently widowed man's son calls a radio talk-show in an attempt to find his father a partner.
Director: Nora Ephron | Stars: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger, Rita Wilson
Votes: 190,967 | Gross: $126.53M
4. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
PG | 120 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
One year after Kevin McCallister was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself stranded in New York City - and the same criminals are not far behind.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara
Votes: 402,729 | Gross: $173.59M
5. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Approved | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen
Votes: 192,243
6. Plaza Suite (1971)
PG-13 | 114 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Three vignettes, each set in room 719 of New York's Plaza Hotel, make up this comedy.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris, Lee Grant
Votes: 2,874 | Gross: $1.67M
7. Sex and the City (1998–2004)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Four female New Yorkers gossip about their sex lives (or lack thereof) and find new ways to deal with being a woman in the late 1990s.
Stars: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon
Votes: 143,111
8. Friends (1994–2004)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy, Romance
Follows the personal and professional lives of six twenty to thirty year-old friends living in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc
Votes: 1,088,905
9. You've Got Mail (1998)
PG | 119 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Book superstore magnate Joe Fox and independent book shop owner Kathleen Kelly fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet, both blissfully unaware that he's trying to put her out of business.
Director: Nora Ephron | Stars: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey
Votes: 229,783 | Gross: $115.82M
10. The Cobbler (2014)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A cobbler, bored of his everyday life, stumbles upon a magical heirloom that allows him to become other people and see the world in a different way.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Adam Sandler, Melonie Diaz, Steve Buscemi, Method Man
Votes: 60,422
11. Elf (2003)
PG | 97 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn't know he exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Zooey Deschanel
Votes: 310,895 | Gross: $173.40M
12. Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
PG | 84 min | Comedy
In his attempts to reconcile a lounge singer with his mistress, a hapless talent agent is mistaken as her lover by a jealous gangster.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Sandy Baron
Votes: 26,955 | Gross: $10.60M
13. Seinfeld (1989–1998)
TV-PG | 22 min | Comedy
The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York City friends.
Stars: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander
Votes: 351,819
14. Mickey Blue Eyes (1999)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
An English auctioneer proposes to the daughter of a Mafia kingpin, only to realize that certain "favors" would be asked of him.
Directors: Kelly Makin, Carl Gottlieb | Stars: Hugh Grant, Jeanne Tripplehorn, James Caan, Burt Young
Votes: 38,225 | Gross: $33.86M
15. Taxi (1978–1983)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
The staff of a New York City taxicab company go about their job while they dream of greater things.
Stars: Judd Hirsch, Jeff Conaway, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner
Votes: 15,848
16. Barefoot in the Park (1967)
G | 106 min | Comedy, Romance
Paul, a conservative young lawyer, marries the vivacious Corie. Their highly passionate relationship descends into comical discord in a five-flight New York City walk-up apartment.
Director: Gene Saks | Stars: Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Charles Boyer, Mildred Natwick
Votes: 20,502 | Gross: $19.99M
17. New York Stories (1989)
PG | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12-year-old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three Gotham tales.
Directors: Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese | Stars: Woody Allen, Nick Nolte, Rosanna Arquette, Marvin Chatinover
Votes: 19,745 | Gross: $10.76M
18. 30 Rock (2006–2013)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy
Liz Lemon, head writer of the sketch-comedy show "TGS with Tracy Jordan", must deal with an arrogant new boss and a crazy new star while trying to run a successful television show without losing her mind.
Stars: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer
Votes: 132,034
19. The Odd Couple (1970–1975)
TV-G | 30 min | Comedy
Two men, a neat freak and a slob separated from their wives, have to live together despite their differences.
Stars: Tony Randall, Jack Klugman, Al Molinaro, Penny Marshall
Votes: 7,185
20. Serendipity (2001)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Romance
A couple search for each other years after the night they first met, fell in love, and separated, convinced that one day they'd end up together.
Director: Peter Chelsom | Stars: John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Piven, Bridget Moynahan
Votes: 121,418 | Gross: $50.29M
21. *batteries not included (1987)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Aliens help a feisty old New York couple in their battle against the ruthless land developer who's out to evict them.
Director: Matthew Robbins | Stars: Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Frank McRae, Elizabeth Peña
Votes: 37,716 | Gross: $32.95M
22. Family Business (1989)
R | 110 min | Crime, Drama
An ex professor offers Adam $1,000,000 to "get" some plasma from a high tech company's lab. Adam asks his criminal grandpa for help. Can they convince Adam's now honest dad to join?
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick, Rosanna DeSoto
Votes: 13,791 | Gross: $12.20M
23. Morning Glory (2010)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An upstart television producer accepts the challenge of reviving a struggling morning show program with warring co-hosts.
Director: Roger Michell | Stars: Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Noah Bean
Votes: 82,753 | Gross: $31.01M
24. Hitch (I) (2005)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Romance
A smooth-talking man falls for a hardened columnist while helping a shy accountant woo a beautiful heiress.
Director: Andy Tennant | Stars: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta
Votes: 335,532 | Gross: $179.50M
25. The First Wives Club (1996)
PG | 103 min | Comedy
Reunited by the death of a college friend, three divorced women seek revenge on the husbands who left them for younger women.
Director: Hugh Wilson | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Maggie Smith
Votes: 54,246 | Gross: $105.49M
26. The King of Comedy (1982)
PG | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A passionate yet unsuccessful comedian stalks and kidnaps his idol to take the spotlight for himself.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
Votes: 119,270 | Gross: $2.50M
27. Tower Heist (2011)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
When a group of hard-working guys find out they've fallen victim to their wealthy employer's Ponzi scheme, they conspire to rob his high-rise residence.
Director: Brett Ratner | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda
Votes: 151,051 | Gross: $78.05M
28. Weekend at Bernie's II (1993)
PG | 97 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Larry and Richard use a voodoo-revived corpse to track down hidden money to clear their names.
Director: Robert Klane | Stars: Andrew McCarthy, Jonathan Silverman, Terry Kiser, Troy Byer
Votes: 14,463 | Gross: $12.74M
29. Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
The life of a businessman begins to change after he inherits six penguins, and as he transforms his apartment into a winter wonderland, his professional side starts to unravel.
Director: Mark Waters | Stars: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury, Ophelia Lovibond
Votes: 105,673 | Gross: $68.22M
30. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 157,614 | Gross: $25.24M
31. Tootsie (1982)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Michael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 114,726 | Gross: $177.20M
32. New Year's Eve (2011)
PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Romance
The lives of several couples and singles in New York City intertwine over the course of New Year's Eve.
Director: Garry Marshall | Stars: Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Michelle Pfeiffer
Votes: 89,871 | Gross: $54.54M
33. The Out-of-Towners (1999)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy
The remake of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy follows the adventures of married couple Henry and Nancy Clark as they are vexed by misfortune while in New York City for a job interview.
Director: Sam Weisman | Stars: Steve Martin, Goldie Hawn, John Cleese, Mark McKinney
Votes: 14,997 | Gross: $28.54M
34. The Out of Towners (1970)
G | 101 min | Comedy
An Ohio sales executive accepts a higher position within the company and travels to New York City with his wife for his job interview but things go wrong from the start.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Sandy Dennis, Sandy Baron, Anne Meara
Votes: 9,258 | Gross: $4.34M
35. The Night Before (II) (2015)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Fantasy
On Christmas Eve, three lifelong friends spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.
Director: Jonathan Levine | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Jillian Bell, Lizzy Caplan
Votes: 82,646 | Gross: $43.04M
36. Sidewalks of New York (2001)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Romance
The interlocking lives and loves of six New Yorkers.
Director: Edward Burns | Stars: Edward Burns, Heather Graham, Penny Balfour, Michael Leydon Campbell
Votes: 6,920 | Gross: $2.40M
37. A Rainy Day in New York (2019)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Romance
A young couple arrives in New York for a weekend where they are met with bad weather and a series of adventures.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Liev Schreiber, Suzanne Smith
Votes: 51,897
38. Money Train (1995)
R | 110 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A vengeful New York City transit cop decides to steal a trainload of subway fares. His foster brother, a fellow cop, tries to protect him.
Director: Joseph Ruben | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Lopez, Robert Blake
Votes: 43,199 | Gross: $35.32M
39. The Front (1976)
PG | 95 min | Drama
In 1953, a cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Michael Murphy
Votes: 9,678
40. For Love or Money (1993)
PG | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Doug, a concierge at a luxury Manhattan hotel, saves all his tips toward his plan for a hotel. A potential investor seduces the girl Doug loves with false promises of leaving his wife. Doug's dilemma: hotel project or girl?
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Gabrielle Anwar, Anthony Higgins, Michael Tucker
Votes: 15,439 | Gross: $11.00M
41. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023)
TV-MA | 60 min | Comedy, Drama
After her husband leaves her, young mother of two Miriam "Midge" Maisel discovers that she has a talent for stand-up comedy. Could this be her calling?
Stars: Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein, Michael Zegen, Marin Hinkle
Votes: 143,034
42. One Fine Day (1996)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The lives of two strangers and their young children unexpectedly intersect on one hectic, stressful day in New York City.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, George Clooney, Mae Whitman, Alex D. Linz
Votes: 48,529 | Gross: $46.15M
43. Ghost Town (I) (2008)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Bertram Pincus is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts.
Director: David Koepp | Stars: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Téa Leoni, Jordan Carlos
Votes: 77,915 | Gross: $13.21M
44. A New Leaf (1971)
G | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
Henry Graham lives the life of a playboy. When his lawyer tells him one day that his lifestyle has consumed all his funds, he needs an idea to avoid climbing down the social ladder. So he intends to marry a rich woman and - murder her.
Director: Elaine May | Stars: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose
Votes: 7,648
45. The Survivors (1983)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Having both lost their jobs, two strangers become unlikely friends after a run in with a would be robber, who is actually a hitman with a grudge against the two.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Walter Matthau, Robin Williams, Jerry Reed, James Wainwright
Votes: 5,736 | Gross: $14.00M
46. Stir Crazy (1980)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Crime
Set up and wrongfully accused, two best friends are sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. However, no prison cell can keep them locked in a cage.
Director: Sidney Poitier | Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams
Votes: 30,407 | Gross: $101.30M
47. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
Between two Thanksgivings two years apart, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey
Votes: 76,813 | Gross: $40.08M
48. Only Murders in the Building (2021– )
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three strangers - who live in the same New York City apartment building and share an obsession with true crime - suddenly find themselves embroiled in a murder.
Stars: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Michael Cyril Creighton
Votes: 156,466
49. The January Man (1989)
R | 97 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two years after being forced out of NYPD, quirky Nick is rehired by the mayor to catch a serial killer after the 11th murder of a woman.
Director: Pat O'Connor | Stars: Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Keitel
Votes: 9,170 | Gross: $4.61M
50. Luv (1967)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Milt, who's having difficulties with his wife, runs into his friend Harry, who's about to kill himself. Milt asks Harry to stay with his wife Ellen while he goes off with his girlfriend. ... See full summary »
Director: Clive Donner | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, Elaine May, Nina Wayne
Votes: 808
51. Dinner Rush (2000)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
At a popular NYC Italian restaurant on a dramatic, busy evening, there are 2 gangsters, cop detective, food-critic, ex bookmaker owner, his chef son, indebted gambler sous-chef etc.
Director: Bob Giraldi | Stars: Danny Aiello, Edoardo Ballerini, John Rothman, Frank Bongiorno
Votes: 6,027 | Gross: $0.11M
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