Autumn in New York (2000)

"Autumn In New York" has delectable shots of brown and golden leaves fluttering down in the winds from craggy old tree branches, covering wet sidewalks and surrounding two movie stars staring into each other's eyes. But these stars (Richard Gere and Winona Ryder) are distinctly un-New York, and the filmmakers keep everything mushy, flip and coy. Ryder looks lovely, but she giggles too much in between her incredulous comments: "REALLY?!"..."WOW!"..."AM-MAAZING!" Gere, laughing with his mouth closed, gives a bloated performance, scrunching his face while tearing up at his black, beady eyes. Anthony LaPaglia is much better in a smallish role as Gere's best friend, Elaine Strich is amusingly jaded as Ryder's disapproving grandmother (although her line about only being able to afford pistachio nuts is ludicrous when she lives in such beautiful New York digs), but this romance cops a corny plea from "Love Story", and how long ago was that? The fact that some reviewers actually fell for this is, like, AM-MAAZING! *1/2 from ****

Fmovies: Should be called Walking in New York. Scene after scene, Gere walks and walks and walks, probably working in the "Damn, he's sexy" angle.

Even the actors couldn't save this movie (not to say that Gere is a shining example of acting prowess). It was full of one-liners that one would only expect in cheap, tawdry romance novels, but never on-screen in a major motion picture release. "Unless..." Gere says with an expectant look on his face when he explains to Charlotte (Ryder) that his date for a benefit party had canceled on him and he's not going because he doesn't want to go alone. The line is delivered with the same stinted, cookie-cutter way it was written. So perhaps I should be singing kudos to the actors for delivering exactly what the script dictated: empty emotions and lost, plaintively hollow words. The story was lacking and clichéd to the point that I couldn't even have any sympathy for the plight of the characters. Charlotte was a caricature of a fey faerie, not a stretch for Ryder, and Will was a caricature of a rags to riches playboy, not a stretch for Gere.

The *only* thing that kept me sitting in the theatre were the air conditioning and comfortable seats and the occasional bit of lovely cinematography. There weren't many images that were "Wow," but there were a few, and that somehow made the $4.50 I spent on the movie *almost* worthwhile.

I just saw the movie and I liked it. Both Gere and Winona gave excellent performances. The actors and cinematography are beautiful. Nice shots of NYC. Chen uses shadings and reflections beautifully.

I don't care what the critics say, I thought it was a great movie. Winona is as beautiful as ever and gives one of her best performances. Her face is so radiant and hauntingly beautiful. I can't get her out of my mind. Too bad her nude scene was cut from the film. It would have been her first.

Go see it if you like Winona or Gere. I give it 3 stars.

Autumn in New York fmovies. THE non-stop laugh-out-loud smash comedy of the summer. MGM really botched the advertising campaign on this one. I didn't realize that a screenwriter with the delightfully demented sense of humor of the creators of "Airplane" was making a spoof of romantic weepers. The lines were truly inspired comic gags. A small sampling: "Food is the only beautiful thing that truly nourishes." "I can smell the rain. When did I learn to do that?" "What About Love?!?" "You are my family!! you are my family (incoherent sobbing)" "What do we do, Will, with this moment that we're in?" Again, I state that this is just a small sampling of the plethora of howlers that exist in this film. Add to this the nonsensical secondary characters, the beautiful cinematography and two romantic leads that have all of the sexual chemistry of a drawer full of office supplies and you have the greatest gift to aficionados of bad movies everywhere. Believe me, a screenwriter has to work very hard to make Winona Ryder look bad. I do believe that she is one of the greatest actresses of her generation, however her abilities are not shown here. Aside from looking great she is given little to do, but deliver unintentionally hilarious lines with as much sincerity as she can muster. Truly a must-see in the pantheons of cinematic mis-steps.

Will (Richard Gere) is a New York City restaurateur and ladies man, in his middle forties. His life's motto is definitely love 'em and leave 'em and have fun in between. So, when he meets Charlotte (Winona Ryder), a beautiful young lady half his age, he is surprised at how smitten he is with her. Wanting to make a connection, he hires her to make a hat for his date to a charity function. When she shows up at his apartment on the evening of the affair, he informs her that his date is sick. Would she, Charlotte, take her place? She agrees and they have a lovely evening together, one that lasts all night. Love is in the air, all right. But, Charlotte confides in Will that she has a dire medical condition, one that is threatening her life. What will their future hold? This is really a nice film for those who like to sigh and cry over a set of star-crossed lovers. Gere is great as the aging lothario and Ryder positively enchanting as the spunky and lovely young lady in his life. The rest of the cast members, including Anthony LaPaglia, Sherry Stringfield, and Elaine Stritch, are great. Then, too, the film is replete with lovely costumes, sets and scenery, making for a very beautiful watch. If you have a hankering for romances, even and especially ones that elicit tears, you should get this film without delay. On an autumn evening, with a fire blazing and mugs of hot chocolate on hand, you will feel very satisfied when the story is spent.

This film has been savaged by critics and it's easy to see why. The story is oooollllllddddd (young girl dying of an incurable disease) and some of the dialogue is beyond belief. But it is well-acted (Ryder and Gere give two of their best performances) and it looks beautiful. Basically the acting and photography kept me in my seat. Take those things away and it would probably be unwatchable. So, not too bad but not good either.