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When fiftysomething Manhattan restaurateur Will Keane (Richard Gere) meets 21-year-old Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder), it鈥檚 only a matter of time before she becomes the latest notch on his bedpost. But Will is surprised to find he has feelings for his new conquest that go beyond the fleeting rewards of a one-night stand. They might be able to overcome the 30-year age difference and his serial philandering, but there鈥檚 one barrier to their love that can鈥檛 be crossed: an incurable heart ailment that could make Charlotte鈥檚 first romance her last.
Of all Hollywood鈥檚 leading men Gere has aged the most gracefully, so seeing him seduce the gamine Miss Ryder is not the stomach-churner you might suspect. But "Autumn in New York" - the second movie from actress turned director Joan Chen, soon to be seen in the infinitely superior ensemble comedy "What鈥檚 Cooking?" - still proves unsettling thanks to the nauseating amount of glucose sentiment that infuses this predictable slice of doomed amour.
The biggest problem is the way Gere鈥檚 character takes centre stage at the expense of Ryder鈥檚. Will may be a mega-successful businessman with all the poontang he could ever need, but we鈥檙e supposed to feel sorry for him on account of his shallow bachelor lifestyle and the illegitimate daughter (Vera Fermiga) he has never known. In contrast, Winona鈥檚 short time on earth is somehow made relevant by her turning Gere鈥檚 carefree bachelor into a sensitive New Age Guy. There鈥檚 not much Ryder can do with such a flagrantly two-dimensional cipher.
"Autumn In New York" is released in UK cinemas on Friday 15th June 2001.
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