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Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
When M.G.M. refused to screen this tear-jerking May-December
romance for critics, it was an ominous sign because studios usually
hide the star-laden stinkers, hoping to get at least one solid weekend
before reviews come out. But it's not that bad. It's also not that
good. Richard Gere plays a 48 year-old, hotshot Manhattan restaurateur
with a reputation as a notorious womanizer and whose picture is on the
cover of NEW YORK magazine. Winona Ryder is a giggly, free-spirited,
Emily Dickinson-quoting, 22 year-old millinery designer who informs
him, shortly after their affair begins, that she's suffering from an
extremely rare and probably terminal tumor which affects her heart. So
is it going to be the "Love Story" of the millennium year? Probably
not. Heavy-handed screenwriter Allison Burnett is no Erich Segal.
First of all, too much is made of the age difference. In fact,
according to her cackling grandmother (Elaine Stritch), Gere even
dated Ryder's late mother. Plus, he has an illegitimate daughter
(Vera Farmiga) who is Ryder's age, and bartender (Anthony La Paglia)
keeps warning him. Even Ryder bluntly quips, "You've got to look on
the bright side. In a year or so, I'll be this sob story you can use
to bag more chicks." Then there's the soggy dialogue: "We have no
future. All I have to offer you is this - until it's over" and "What
should we do with this moment we're in?" On the other hand, director
Joan Chen and cinematographer Changwei Gu create such intoxicatingly
beautiful visuals that you forget they're cliche-ridden - like the
closer you come to dying, the more luminous and beautiful you
become. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Autumn in New York" is
a sentimental, predictable, melodramatic 4, but this glossy,
two-hankie weeper at least deserved to find its niche.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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