ALFREDO De Villa’s “Adrift in Manhattan,” which won a grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival this year, is a well-acted variation on the popular theme of emotionally wounded strangers who are changed by encounters with each other.
Heather Graham plays a grieving Manhattan ophthalmologist who has been estranged from her college professor husband (William Baldwin) since the death of their child. She somewhat improbably encourages the attentions of a shy stalker (Victor Rasuk of “Raising Victor Vargas”) who follows her around taking pictures. Meanwhile, Graham has informed one of her patients (Dominic Chianese, Uncle Junior of “The Sopranos”), a painter who works in a corporate mailroom, that he’s losing his sight. She encourages him to pursue a flirtatious colleague (Elizabeth Pena).
De Villa, who previously directed “Washington Heights,” shows considerable skill with actors and stages a steamy sex scene, but overall, his latest flick is dramatically tepid.
Running time: 100 minutes. Not rated (sex, profanity). At the Village East, Second Avenue at 12th Street.
ADRIFT IN MANHATTAN **