Starring Winona Ryder, Richard Gere, Anthony LaPaglia, Elaine Stritch, Sherry Stringfield, Mary Beth Hurt, Jill Hennessey. Written by Alison Burnett and Paul Haggis. Directed by Joan Chen. Will Keane (Gere) owns a successful upscale New York restaurant. Recently featured in an eligible bachelor article in a national magazine, he has beautiful girls constantly pursuing him. One evening, an old friend Dolly (Stritch) arrives with a group to celebrate the birthday of her granddaughter Charlotte (Ryder). She knows who he is and has crush on him, as do most of the people in Charlotte's party. Will also notices her, and is happy to go over with Dolly to meet Charlotte, but he is unable to make any moves that evening since he has a very full dance card for that evening. There's also another problem. Will is 48 and Charlotte is 22. Still he indirectly asks her out to a charity ball, and they end up spending the night together. Will suffers a little regret, and over breakfast tells Charlotte they can have fun, but they have no future. Charlotte tells Will she agrees, because she has a terminal heart problem and has only a short while to live. Dolly tells Will to stay away, but Charlotte is different from most of his girlfriends. She's a free-spirit who doesn't want anything from him except himself. Will doesn't want to stay away, and Charlotte doesn't want him to. But can Will drop his womanizing ways and eventually face his fears? There are three major things going against this film. Firstly, a lot of people will hate yet another really old guy going after a much younger girl, although in real life Ryder is in her 30's, and the age difference isn't that big. Secondly, the plotline where two people find each other, fall in love against all odds, and then one of them (usually the girl) has a mysterious deadly disease has in the past brought some of the most vomit-inducing, tear-jerking sentimentality and . Think Love Story. Think this year's absolutely horrible Here On Earth. Thirdly, in a very rarely done move, critics were not permitted to preview the film. It is rare because it usually means the film is a fragrant piece of dung and the studio hopes to at least make some money the first weekend before everyone hears how bad it is, and critics will trash the film simply on principle. I have no idea why the suits at the studio didn't allow the film to be previewed by critics. I kept waiting for the film to turn horrible, but it never did. While by no means a great film, it is certainly a decent one. I liked it better than the two films mentioned above. I say this not because I'm a fan of Winona Ryder and I'll like anything she does, since I enjoyed this more than several of her past films (Boys, House of the Spirits, even The Crucible among others). Because Charlotte's illness is revealed early on before the characters actually fall in love, the plot feels less manipulative because the characters aren't being cheated out of anything - they both go in with their eyes wide open. The illness is medically well-explained and thus more plausible. The age difference doesn't seem that prominent to me, but if it bugs you, it bugs you. On the positive side, it features elegant costumes and superb cinematography. It does not dwell on melodrama and is not oppressively depressing, utilizing some snappy interplay between characters, and usually realistic dialogue and situations. It feels far less manipulative than films in this genre, and is often quite romantic. The time near death for Charlotte is brief and we aren't manipulated into a cryfest by a blubbering pair swearing undying love forever. I could have done without the pseudo-intellectual poetry stuff, however. The character of Charlotte is a little too perfect, the picture of sweetness and too easy acceptance of her premature death sentence. And the character is not written consistently. She has no qualms about going out with an older, richer and more powerful guy and competing with older, more sophisticated women, but seems all surprised when Will acts like the womanizer she knew he was the first night she saw him operate in the restaurant. It seems Charlotte's mom was close friends with Will (fortunately not THAT close - it was a bit creepy thinking Will got it on with the mother and is now working on the daughter) shortly before she died in a car crash, but Will had slept with her doubles partner, and Dolly had not mentioned any of this to Charlotte. But Charlotte acts like it's a big surprise when he does it again in the present, chastising her grandmother for not filling her in on his wandering ways. The character of Will is a bit better handled and does a decent and credible job in moving from a charming but selfish, scared-of-commitment guy to one willing to take the risk to love someone. Ryder is quite good, credibly portraying a young free-spirit flattered by the attention. Gere is better than usual (I'm not his biggest fan). They make a very cute couple, and their chemistry is quite good. Stritch is fine as the grizzled senior who is charmed by Will but wary of the damage he knows he can do to a young girl's heart, although her character could have been written better. Autumn In New York is not the kind of film I would usually go see. I'm not a big fan of films where it appears the loftiest ambition is a good cry. Fortunately, the romance and character interplay is emphasized ahead of the manipulative tear-jerking. If you hate either of the leads (and there seems to be a goodly number out there who do), this film won't change your mind. If you are allergic to "relationship" chick flicks, this film will not fix your allergy. But for those who can appreciate romance and relationship films, Autumn in New York will likely be a welcome change from a summer full of (not all that good) action and thriller films. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page