Then again such notions are never inscribed on valentines, and "Autumn in New York" is a lot like a red satin box of cheap chocolates. Of course, love conquers all-love handles included.ĭirected by Joan Chen and written by Allison Burnett ("Bleeding Heart"), the picture is a veritable bouquet of ardent cliches and witless sentiments reminiscent of "Love means never having to say you're sorry." Quite the contrary, love means saying you're sorry a thousand times over. Will is a sterling silver fox, but his man breasts are clearly drooping beneath his cashmere pullover. She looks great even when she's got hospital tubes coming out of her nose. "I used to dance on my father's feet when I was a little girl," she replies with a blush.Ĭharlotte looks positively radiant, especially for someone who has a life-threatening condition. As Granny announces, "Your mother never slept with him." That's nice, but there are other potentially icky possibilities like this one: "You don't dance, you float," Will whispers into Charlotte's perfect pink ear. The filmmakers tried to temper the incestuous nature of the relationship. Despite the past, Charlotte puts her faith in Will's enduring love. But that was 30 years ago, recalls Granny, along about the time he knocked up her mother's tennis partner. He's that darned cute.Īs if things weren't complicated enough, what with his age and her illness, Will had a childhood romance with Charlotte's late mother. "He is irresistible," observes Charlotte's crotchety granny (Elaine Stritch), who introduces them at Charlotte's birthday party. Incredibly, this is an offer no dying girl can refuse. The film seems to suggest, however, that there's an upside: He's no good at long-term relationships and she's terminally ill! Talk about your match made in Heaven. Will is 30 years older than Charlotte, and an incorrigible skirt-chaser, but he repeatedly assures her that their love is wrong, wrong, wrong. Unfortunately, this brief encounter between May and December is as far-fetched as it is unsavory. In contrast, Ryder's sweet Charlotte giggles and twitters enough for a whole slumber party. Gere plays Will, a randy celebrity chef, with such solemnity you'd think he was communing with the Dalai Lama instead of coming on to a cheeping baby chick. Hoo boy, do they ever make earnest work of this superficial sob story. It's not that the tiresome twosome don't try to make us care. But there's no need for a hankie when it comes to "Autumn in New York," a laughable, romantic melodrama with waif Winona Ryder and grizzled Richard Gere. Whether it's classy like "An Affair to Remember" or cloying like "Beaches," a tearjerker should at least provide a sniffle, if not a good cry. Richard Gere and Winona Ryder try their chances at love.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |