AUTUMN IN NEW YORK

SYNOPSIS:
In his late 40s, Will Keane (Richard Gere) is a flamboyant New York restaurateur who is addicted to women. When he meets the much younger Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder) his instincts warn him of the dangers, as does his old chum, Dolly (Elaine Stricht), who knew Charlotte’s mother. Indeed, so did Will; she was the one women he didn’t bed, going off instead with her friend. Now, more than 20 years later, those actions are having their repercussions come back, just as Will finds himself actually falling in love with Charlotte. But as fate would have it, Charlotte’s heart is in the deadly grip of the grim reaper.

"Overdone and predictable as it is, Autumn in New York is not a bad film: just a frustrating one. Frustrating because it comes close to achieving its emotional objectives, and because it suffers from MHS (Modern Hollywood Syndrome), which inflicts the virus of plasticity on films such as this. For example, in an effort to ensure a feel good ending, the real ending – a sad but not tragic view of Richard Gere’s Will Keane as the redemeed sinner in purgatory (symbolically speaking, because there is snow on the rooftops of New York), is tagged with a scene that could be described as forced moral closure. I won’t labour the point or spoil (?) it for you by going into a description. Another frustration is the perfunctory way one of the underlying issues of the relationship is dealt with: she is terminally ill, but has decided against any invasive surgery when the crunch comes. He secretly engineers emergency surgery to be on stand-by, and the conflict revolves around intricate issues of love and selfishness. But this whole subject is dismissed in a couple of lines in favour of pat resolutions. Everything is hammered home, although the rider to that (sorry) is Winona Ryder’s multi-layered performance as the youngster in love with an older but not wiser man. Solid support from a pro cast also helps; Gere is good, too, although the script doesn’t stretch him and the character is not as complete as it might be. In all, I get the feeling that the script was put together in a laboratory, pulling elements into a mixing petrie. They should have got a good English writer to do the final draft, to bring up the subtlety level."
Andrew L. Urban