I finally saw the movie I was an extra in, “Love is Strange”, this past weekend – and found out my scene was cut. I knew it was coming up when I saw Alfred Molina wearing some great red pants, and I knew it’d been cut when John Lithgow told his niece and nephew that his husband had gone to church that day while he had gone to the movies, because my scene took place outside a church. Oh well! I’ll have to buy the DVD and check out the deleted scenes.

Despite me not being in it, it was a really lovely movie. John Lithgow and Alfred Molina play a couple who have been together for 39 years. When marriage equality means they can finally tie the knot, Molina is fired from his job and they have to sell their apartment. Separated and living with friends and family members, the two deal with living apart after so long together, and their situation touches and influences everyone who comes into contact with them.

It’s not a perfect film – some threads get too much time while others were clearly truncated, and the ending is a little sad and a little rushed, but through it all Molina and Lithgow are so convincing as people who not only love each other but are used to each other, who know one another’s quirks and anticipate each other’s needs.

It doesn’t hurt that it’s a beautiful picture of New York. My scene was filmed in the West Village, as much of it seems to be, in the fall of 2013, and so many shots seem touched by golden autumn light. It’s like walking through New York on a perfect fall day and getting a chance to see the lives of strangers up close. I don’t recognize every street they show, but watching it I kept thinking, “Oh, I’ve been near there before.” At one point, to signal the next scene was in Brooklyn, they had a long, gorgeous shot of Grand Army Plaza.

My friend and I saw the movie at the movie theater at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), which is a great place to see a movie, but it’s playing elsewhere in the city, too. If you have a chance to see it, let me know what you think! What’s your favorite movie version of NYC? I just watched “Ghostbusters” a few weeks ago and loved seeing that vision of the city.

Here's my second bad photo. At least you can see what a lovely day it was!

Here’s my second bad photo. At least you can see what a lovely day it was!