A Rainy Day in New York (Woody Allen, 2019)
Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Jude Law, Diego Luna, Liev Schreiber
A young couple arrive in New York for a weekend where they are met with bad weather and a series of adventures and misadventures.
Its release collided with an epidemic of gender politics. Had it not been for that, and Allen's personal history, I would have regarded this a pleasant tho predictable romcom. It's economical (well-edited) and shot by Vittorio Storaro (so could not get any better, technically).
But if you read it in the light of the above, it is a bit of worry. The young trio all end up conventionally 'correctly'. The guy finishes up with the 'right' girl (tho she never looked right to me, but maybe that's part of the movie's flimsy excuse for existing). And the other girl (only just!) escapes the clutches of the three (!!!) older men who try to seduce her, and is last seen going back to college and presumably males of her own age. However, half the film's duration is taken up with showing how attractive the girl is (she's 21 in the film but looks and acts much younger) to the older men, and how 'natural' it seems that they should all immediately drop what they're doing (film, wife, girlfriend) and try to get into her pants.
It's worth noting the professions of the older men. In order of appearance, they are: director, writer, and actor. And guess who is all of those IRL?
My personal opinion is that all of the acting is pretty crap, especially that of the three young people. But the direction throughout is good, making them look much more attractive than they are in repose; and, as I've already said, Allen's team is outstanding. He and they have all done this kind of thing so often before that they can just about phone in what should have been a commercial success.
I wonder if Woody Allen has another film in him. Maybe he'll go back to his Bergmanesque style for a final farewell. I would watch that. And he's 'only' 84. Clint Eastwood has just released another film at 89!
Oh! IMDb says Allen is in post with something called Rifkin's Festival. Let's see! ...
Hmm. Wikipedia says it's just another romcom.
Garry Gillard | reviews | New: 20 December 2019| Now: 9 January, 2022