The first 20 minutes of”Autumn in New York” are so bland and tedious, rife with obvious direction and blatant exposition, it feels like a low-budget smoocher scripted for a couple of soap-opera stars instead of a big-budget romance with heavy hitters like Richard Gere and Winona Ryder.
Right off the bat, we find out that Will Keane (Gere) is 48, a notorious womanizer with a fear of commitment and one of the most successful restaurateurs in Manhattan. One night at his chic eatery as he is juggling a couple of different women, he spots a wide-eyed vision across the room in Charlotte Fielding (Ryder), who is celebrating her 22nd birthday along with friends and her grandmother, Dolly (Elaine Stritch). As if that’s not convenient enough, it turns out that Will knows Dolly, since he once went out with her daughter, who just happens to be Charlotte’s late mother.
At this early point, it feels as if the film is already so laden with forced plot twists that it will never be able to recover. And things only get worse when Charlotte announces (in response to Will’s standard “don’t expect anything from me” speech), that she is very ill. (At this point, I’m thinking “Gigi” meets “Love Story.”)
But then, like a fresh line of skaters whooshing onto the ice at a hockey game, the movie receives a much-needed boost of energy. Instead of focusing solely on the “older creepy guy falls for sensitive young girl” subplot (Charlotte even loves Emily Dickinson for crying out loud), the script, by Chicagoan Allison Burnett, zeroes in on Will himself, as he tries to figure out why he is such a jerk towards women. In fact, the scenes of Will staggering around New York trying to come to terms with something that has been eluding him for decades, even as he is being followed by a mysterious young girl, are so absorbing they are enough to carry the rest of the film, and all its cliches, across the finish line.
Another strong point is the absolutely smashing cinematography by Changwei Gu, who also shot “Farewell My Concubine.” Notsince Woody Allen’s “Manhattan” has the Big Apple looked so lush, peaceful and romantic.
“Autumn in New York” is directed by Joan Chen, a Chinese-born actress (“The Last Emperor”) who made her directorial debut just two years ago with “Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl.” This is a big leap up for her, both in terms of scale and budget, but if she is able to take such predictable storylines and breathe life into them, chances are good she’ll have a long and successful career in Hollywood.
Running time: 1:45. MPAA rating: PG-13. Some mild sexuality and salty language. (star)(star) 1/2
