4. Serendipity

Another example of Central Park as one of the most romantic settings anywhere in New York City is "Serendipity" starring John Cusack and Kate Beckingsale. The plot revolves around a chance meeting between the two at Bloomingdale's while shopping for gloves. They wind up having a magical evening which includes skating in a gorgeously decorated Wollman Rink. Besides the evocative shots of them gliding around the rink there are amazing shots of the rink decorated for Christmas with a backdrop of the Manhattan skyline above that are absolutely breathtaking. The final shot also takes place at the rink where Cusack is finally reunited with Beckingsale at the movie's admittedly unlikely, manipulative and totally irresistible climax. The film paints a beautiful portrait of Central Park by night that is almost haunting in its idealized winter splendor.

3. Home Alone 2

One of the most popular children's films to use Central Park as a backdrop is "Home Alone 2" starring Macauley Culkin, Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. Scenes include Wollman Rink and Kevin eluding his pursuers by hiding in a horse drawn carriage, Kevin running around Bethesda Fountain but perhaps the most memorable shot that is set in the movie is the one with Brenda Fricker giving her portrayal of a rather eccentric park character that is obsessed with pigeons. The scene is set at the beautiful Inscope Arch which runs beneath the Park Drive at the southeast entrance and connects the Central Park Zoo to the Pond. The Bad Guys (Pesci and Stern) are ultimately thwarted in their attempts to do away with young Kevin by being showered with bread crumbs and then inundated with hungry pigeons. The shot is eerily, yet beautifully, lit and gives the park a magical feel, even while it is showcasing some of its least notable denizens.

2. Portrait of Jennie

"Portrait of Jennie" from 1949 is still one of the most romantically magical films ever shot in Central Park. Taken from a popular novel by Robert Nathan it is the story of Eben Adams (played by Joseph Cotton), a struggling artist that can't seem to find his muse. One night, on a stroll through Central Park, he meets Jennie Appleton, a precocious pre-teen played somewhat unconvincingly by a decidedly post-pubescent Jennifer Jones. Suspension of disbelief aside, this is a lovely movie that, quite uncharacteristically for the era, is shot extensively in Central Park. Shots of the Dairy, the Mall and a lovely sequence filmed on the Pond evoke a New York that seems almost sepia-tinted sixty years later. The ethereal nature of Eben's meetings with Jennie (she seems to age by five or six years in between seasonal meetings) adds to the timeless nature of the the park settings. It seems that it could be 1859, 1909, 1949... The movie is a timeless evocation of Central Park as a world separate from the city that surrounds it, a place where the improbable is possible.