 |
 |
|
Autumn in New York
by Stephen Farber
After a few early screenings to gauge critical reaction, MGM decided to cancel all subsequent press screenings of this glossy tearjerker. That decision is somewhat bewildering, because while Autumn in New York is pretty sappy, it's certainly no worse than a lot of summer movies that were shown to the press with great fanfare. Joan Chen, who co-starred in The Last Emperor and made her directorial debut last year with the thoughtful Chinese film, Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, actually makes an impressive transition to big-budget Hollywood filmmaking with this production. Unfortunately, she's saddled with a formulaic script that directorial style can disguise but not really salvage. Will Keane (Richard Gere) is a celebrated chef who revels in his hedonistic life as one of New York's most promiscuous bachelors. He has no thought of settling down until he meets a spunky young woman who is actually the daughter of one of his many former flames. He falls hard for Charlotte (Winona Ryder), only to learn that she is suffering from an incurable disease. This crisis finally forces Will to give up his philandering ways and become a responsible adult.
The gooey plot recalls Love Story, and this new movie is done in the same antiseptic style. Like Ali MacGraw in that earlier soap opera, Charlotte succumbs to one of those photogenic diseases that allows her to expire with her beauty intact. Ryder's idealized role is a thankless one, but Gere actually gives one of his better performances as the irresponsible, beguiling Will. The lushly photographed movie is an enticing advertisement for New York, at least if you can live in the expensive surroundings that these characters inhabit. Autumn in New York is the quintessential chick flick, and it's not going to seduce anyone who doesn't have a taste for this kind of schmaltz in the first place. But for what it is, it's well done. Hey, it beats Big Momma's House or Gone in 60 Seconds, which did have advance press screenings and went on to survive their terrible reviews.
|
