Autumn in New York

An man gets an unexpected lesson in love and life from a much younger woman in this romantic drama. Will Keane (Richard Gere) is a wealthy 50-year-old restaurant tycoon who has a knack for wooing beautiful women, but is unable to commit to a lasting relationship. On day Will meets a beautiful woman in her early-20s named Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder); he turns on the charm in an effort to impress her, and soon the two are having an affair. But what Will thought would be a brief, casual fling proves to have far deeper repercussions when he learns that Charlotte is suffering from a serious illness and does not have long to live. Autumn in New York was directed by actress-turned-filmmaker Joan Chen and co-stars Anthony LaPaglia, Elaine Stritch, and Jillian Hennessy. - Mark Deming

Falling curse to the dreaded cinematic "sophomore slump," the second feature film from actress-turned-director Joan Chen pales in comparison to her acclaimed debut, Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998). Script problems plague Autumn in New York (2000), not the least of which is a male lead character, Will Keane (Richard Gere), that pinwheels with abandon from philandering cad to bachelor with a heart of gold, and a female lead, Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder), who's nearly a total cipher. (One example of the latter: much is made of Fielding earning a living by crafting expensive, artsy hats, a plot device that is quickly dropped and never mentioned again.) A story that never coheres and unmotivated characters portrayed by a pair of stars whose chemistry never quite gels does not add up to a successful romance on any level. Autumn in New York doesn't live up to its chief pretension: to be a classic, doomed-romance tearjerker on the level of Love Story (1970). - Karl Williams

Cast:

Richard Gere - Will Keane

Winona Ryder - Charlotte Fielding

Anthony LaPaglia - John

Elaine Stritch - Dolly

Vera Farmiga - Lisa

Sherry Stringfield - Sarah

Jill Hennessy - Lynn

Sam Trammell - Simon

Kali Rocha - Shannon

Mary Beth Hurt - Dr. Sibley

Joan Chen - Director

Gary Lucchesi - Producer

Amy Robinson - Producer

Tom Rosenberg - Producer

Allison Burnett - Screenwriter

Gu Changwei - Cinematographer

Gabriel Yared - Composer (Music Score)

Ruby Yang - Editor

Mark Friedberg - Production Designer

Jess Gonchor - Art Director

Andre Lamal - Co-producer

Ron Bozman - Executive Producer

Ted Tannenbaum - Executive Producer

Catherine Davis - Set Decorator / Set Designer

Carol Oditz - Costume Designer

Joseph R. Burns - First Assistant Director

Christopher Newman - Sound/Sound Designer

Sheila Jaffe - Casting

Georgianne Walken - Casting

2001 Le Roman De Lulu (Pierre-Olivier Scotto)

2001 Queenie In Love (Amos Kollek)

2001 Angel Eyes (Luis Mandoki)

2001 Sweet November (Pat O'Connor)

2000 Here On Earth (Mark Piznarski)

1998 Only Love, Part 1 (John Erman)

1998 City of Angels (Brad Silberling)

1993 Untamed Heart (Tony Bill)

1992 Watashi o Daite Soshite Kiss Shite (Junya Sato)

1991 Dying Young (Joel Schumacher)

1982 Six Weeks (Tony Bill)

1973 She Lives (Stuart Hagmann)

1970 Love Story (Arthur Hiller)

1968 Sweet November (Robert Ellis Miller)

1939 Dark Victory (Edmund Goulding)