Autumn in the City (2022 TV Movie) User Reviews

A clunky script, but the cast brings it together.

[Avidviewer-02847 · 6/10 · 23 October 2022]

Aimee Teegarden always brings a lot of young fresh energy to her roles. Evan Roderick is great as her love interest, they have chemistry which doesn't always happen in Hallmark rom-coms. They should be matched up again, maybe a Spring movie set in the country. Or a winter film since Roderick is a former hockey player. The supporting cast is good, especially the bakery couple Toby and Will. Strong Canadian supporting actors.

The script isn't that good, there are some funny parts but it's clunky, it doesn't seem to fit together smoothly. As with most of the rom-coms it's filmed in BC with exterior shots of NYC. Vancouver can be made to look like almost any North American city.

Beautiful fall New York in a find your calling romance

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 28 October 2022]

To be young in the city...Aimee Teegarden breathes life into this New York City romance that is equally about finding your calling.

Aimee plays Piper who is on the verge of turning thirty and has given herself that as a deadline to find her career or true calling. She bravely signs up at a New York temp agency and tells the agent to throw everything at her. She quickly meets her grumpy neighbor Austin, a wealthy quintessential New Yorker who is trying to buck the family reporting business of his famous reporter mother because he wants to write children's stories. Piper also meets another transplant to New York, Will and his romantic partner Toby, who own a corner coffee shop and bakery. Piper, Will and Toby become fast friends. Will and Toby seem to think that Piper and Austin would be good together and they set about doing a little matchmaking like a picnic in the park.

Great cast, fun working through career ideas and good chemistry between the leads. This is like a very sweet fall postcard to New York.

If you love New York, romance and the idea of finding yourself...you will enjoy this movie.

New York is so Nice!

[rebekahrox · 6/10 · 19 October 2022]

This was fairly watchable despite a few troublesome aspects. One of which was the mismatch in the casting. Aimee Teagarden is an attractive and relatively youthful Hallmark leading lady and Evan Roderick as her love interest was a fresh new face and did well. Unfortunately, together, the pair didn't work. Aimee is in her early 30s playing an almost 30 year-old. Evan Roderick is 6 years younger and could pass for 17. So, for me the chemistry was off.

Piper has escaped from her hometown and her over-protective parents to pursue her dreams in New York City. Unfortunately, she doesn't have any dreams other than escaping from her dead end life in Iowa or Omaha or whatever. This leads to a series of temp jobs where she hopes that her destiny will hit her "like a bolt of lightening." She is almost 30 years old. Honey, if lightening hasn't struck by now, it's not going to. She is pretty oblivious because her future career is right in front of her and is obvious to the alert viewer. Big Clue: she never goes anywhere without her sketchpad and she sketches and colors non-stop. She meets cute Austin who is an aspiring Children's book author, despite his egomaniacal world famous journalist mother who relentlessly badgers him to become a world famous journalist just like her.

After throwing amazing opportunity after amazing opportunity back in the faces of all of the nice New Yorkers so anxious to hand out cool jobs, Piper finally gets struck by lightening, figuratively. She hooks up professionally and personally with Austin, who has shockingly landed a publishing deal for a whole series of books with Piper as the illustrator. After a lot of ups and downs, Piper and Austin have their dream careers and a relationship. There were a lot of fallen leaves in this one, but no pumpkins unless you count pumpkin spice lattes. The couple's career trajectories were fantastical and should probably come with a disclaimer lest New York becomes invaded with aspiring Midwesterners hoping to be just like Piper.

A good pair and a watchable TV film.

[MIssM19 · 7/10 · 19 November 2022]

Piper is about to turn 30 and she wants to make her own path, figure out what she wants to do. So, she moves to NYC and tries a few different temp jobs. There she meets her handsome neigbour Austin, a wanna be writer whose mom insists follows her path.

It's realistic in a way that a 30 year old doesn't know what to do with life and also in a way in which a parent wants them to follow their same path. I kind of sympathise with both.

I thought Aimee was amazing and there was chemistry with Evan. I personally thought Evan's character Austin could show more excitement and a fun, silly scene was missing from this as well.

This is clearly not a Hallmark production even if it was shown there. I'm not sure if a few of the NYC shots were real but they looked like it (The Manhattan skyline and Washington Square Park). The streets certainly weren't and that's okay.

I had big expectations about this. It's definitely not a 10 but this tv film certainly delivers what's promised.

Only thing worse then plot holes is the ENDING!

[hooper-65382 · 1/10 · 23 March 2023]

On its face this seems to be a nice bit of romcom. Piper moves to NYC for two months during which she 'must' discover and embark upon her proper career path. Her handsome neighbor Austin is a fine love interest if dare I say their was a speck of love interest shown on the screen prior to the final scenes of the film. They go from being neighbors to Piper doing illustrations for the kids book series Austin is seeking to have published.

Through 98% of he film the two never do as much as hold hands. Aside from trope smiles here and their there is only a working relationship with zero physical contact, no kissing just their work collaboration. Here is where the screen writers went off the rails. In a final scene, after book related obstacles are overcome, Piper and Austin admit they are in love and want to be together forever. But flash back to the preceding scene where Piper has not met her two month goal and we see Piper leaving her apartment with her luggage and heading to the airport. She later says 'I'm not good with good byes' as the reason she was leaving Austin forever without so much talking to him about it. Absurd! So, at this point their unspoken love is DOA because Piper's two month job plan had failed. Like, what about the option of staying in NYC with the love of your life? Maybe even discussing this with the 'love of your life.' Maybe Austin, knowing Piper's two month sub let is up would have discussed this with Piper since he is head over heels (unspoken) in love with her. Are we to believe love can not survive the expiration of a sublet:? Here the end of an eight weeks meant the end of love. To recap: For 98% of the film the two are 'silently' falling madly in love BUT there is zero on screen evidence of any romantic relationship. Then, when her sublet is up Piper is leaving without a word of discussion with Austin, the love of her ilfe. The screen writers toss two bones in the final scenes. Piper's career quest comes through and hence the two are permitted to now declare their love. Title should have been: Love DOA if the job hunt fails!

Aimee Teagarden shines again in a sweet story about following your dreams, even when you don't know what they are

[MichaelByTheSea · 8/10 · 19 October 2022]

Aimee Teagarden was great in Friday Night Lights and has been in some very good movies lately (Once Upon a Christmas Miracle, New Year's Resolution, My Christmas Family Tree). She's a perfect fit for Hallmark (which is why they signed her to a new multi-film deal). Here she's cast as a wholesome, adorable, relentlessly upbeat and idealistic woman who shows up in NYC looking for a career. But she's only given herself two months to find an inspiring job (wildly unrealistic).

She tries out a remarkably wide array of seemingly decent jobs that would likely have supported her (Including one that seemed like a wonderful opportunity to travel) but none stirs her passion ("I'm not just looking for a job, I'm looking for a fulfilling career and, when I find it, it's going to feel like a lightning bolt."). And yet she spends a lot of her free time sitting on park benches and drawing. When asked why she doesn't pursue that as a career, she insists that it's impractical and would be a betrayal of her parents who "scrimped and saved" to pay for her college.

Austin (played by Evan Roderick) doesn't create the same good first impression as Piper. He's called a "curmudgeon" and "grumpy" and grudgingly takes a job that anyone with a journalism degree would kill for (writing "features" for the Chronicle). But he shows up late, when he shows up at all, makes no effort to do his job properly and demonstrates a complete lack of integrity (as he does again later in the movie). There's also a pathetic early scene where he let his mother veto his chicken sandwich lunch order and, instead, lets her order him HER favorite kale salad. Ugh.

But, thankfully, Piper has a positive effect on him. And their chemistry is great. But one of the more frustrating aspects of Hallmark movies is their rather chaste approach to romance. These are two attractive, single, 30 year-olds, living across the hall from each other in New York City. In real life (and on Netflix) they'd be in bed together (or at least making out like teenagers) the night the candles came out. I counted about two dozen pumpkin colored candles. Heck, that setting called for a kiss at least. Or even one of Hallmark's famous (and ridiculous) "almost" kisses. But no. Nothing. And yet, in this particular movie, it may actually have made sense for them to wait given the circumstances.

Also, in a laudable continuation of Hallmark's commitment to diversity and inclusion, the movie features a gay couple who own a nearby coffee shop. Initially, Piper's "efforts" (asking if a stranger has tried a pumpkin bread sample) somehow earns her a "coffee on the house". And then Austin waltzes in and also gets a coffee without paying. And then the coffee shop owners offer to plan Piper a party after knowing her for just a couple of weeks. Those were some rather unrealistic moments, but I liked the characters. They were kind, good-natured, and provided sympathetic ears and support for Austin and Piper. And they set up a really sweet surprise in the park.

There's a question of "who will 'champion' who?" that played out in a way I initially thought reflected poorly on one of the characters, but I was pleasantly surprised by how that was eventually handled by the writers (Joey Elkins and Blake Silver). Another reviewer fairly criticized the desperate "fight for yourself or yell" scene but I liked it; it reminded me of the old classic Bob Dylan song with the lyrics "when you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose."

Random observations:

The "hostess" mix up was beyond improbable. There's no way that happens.

Temp agencies make their money when a temp is offered and accepts a permanent position. They certainly didn't make any money off Piper.

Pretty good fake view of Washington Square and the Brooklyn Bridge. I wish they had filmed on location in New York City but Hallmark is famous for keeping their filming costs low by filming in Vancouver.

I agree with those who spotted very little evidence that it was autumn which was a shame because in certain locations, fall colors can really be spectacular (and "autumn" is literally in the movie title).

Although running into someone you know in NYC seemed to another reviewer like it would "literally never happen" it actually happened to me when I visited Manhattan and bumped into somebody from my hometown in California, even though I had no idea they were even going to be there. And Piper and Austin don't actually run into each other unexpectedly except for the planned park set up and their run ins at their favorite coffee shop by their apartment (I run into people I know all the time at my favorite coffee shop). That said, it's a familiar technique to have lead characters get into the elevator at the same time, or walk out of the building at the same time, or bump into each other at a local business. That just drives the story along. You have to suspend your disbelief to some extent when you watch a guaranteed happy ending Hallmark movie. They're not documentaries (which, sadly, can be stranger than fiction).

Good use of the song "A Night Like This" by Carmi Esta towards the end. I've noticed that the background music in Hallmark movies has really improved over the years.

Missing New York, missing autumn

[ev136 · 1/10 · 20 October 2022]

Seeing the title of the movie made me really excited as I was fed up a bit with all the small town Vermont fall movies out there.

I was looking forward to beautiful Central Park scenes during fall. However, this movie was clearly not filmed during autumn and having said that, the fake foliage decoration the film team put up was just really bad. The streets of New York were decorated in a very bad and cheap way, all the New York vibe and authenticity completely gone. But the story was so flat that in the end it a came together - in a very bad way.

It was not a story about finding your passion but about being naive as a 30yo.

Autumn in New York!

[allmoviesfan · 9/10 · 27 October 2022]

A beautiful setting - New York City in the fall, when that great metropolis is at its vivid best - and a great lead character (ably played by the stunning Aimee Teegarden) who leaves her small hometown in Nebraska to figure out what she wants to do with her life.

Inevitably, because it's a Hallmark movie, she meets a guy and they start to fall in love, helped along by a picnic in Central Park and a visit to what I think is Pier 35 across the East River in Brooklyn.

It's a nice story, hard to hate if you go into it with the right frame of mind. Definitely one of Hallmark's better efforts this year, and another great showcase for Aimee Teegarden, who, happily, has signed a long-term contract with Hallmark. I believe this might be the first film as part of her new contract.

Has NOTHING to do with Autumn in NYC

[ksudaria-73272 · 1/10 · 16 October 2022]

Both main characters live 100% unrealistically. Piper is annoyingly ungrateful with the jobs the temp agency is giving her. Why not just stick with one job until you find 'the right one'? Piper gives off a 1-dimensional/simple minded mentality. 2 month time frame to do what you want to do is ridiculous. A 2 year plan is more like it. Austin isn't as bad. He just needs to man up and be real. He was lucky that his mom got him a job at the paper. Again, just another ungrateful opportunity that he could have taken and stayed at until he got what he wanted to do. Lastly and most importantly, just as my header says, this movie has zero NYC Autumn content.

Much better than the usual!

[weniwuna · 8/10 · 20 January 2023]

I am very surprised at the overall low ratings! Hallmark movies have a special part in my life, in the sense that they are the go-to movies I will turn on when I am feeling overwhelmed, and just need a bit of a lift. Also, if I want nothing complicated. Almost all of the Hallmark movies I have encountered have pretty much, the same idea, but with a bit of a different storyline. For example, all Christmas movies have a tree lighting, a Christmas market, somebody who hasn't been home for Christmas in a very long time, but finds themselves there. You get the idea. But even when it's not Christmas themed, somebody ends up usually in a very small town and are either getting away from something or have a strong purpose and meet up with someone who is the very person who is trying to stop them from achieving their goal. Of course, these are the two that end up together in the end, but not without a misunderstanding right before the final few minutes. Then it ends in a kiss which pans out quickly. The end.

But surprisingly this movie takes place in New York City, far from a small town! And even though you get the idea who's gonna end up with whom, it's still fun to be along for the ride. Also, there is no misunderstanding or a big fight, and even though things work out in the end, they don't have a random kiss out of nowhere, and then the movie is immediately over. Rather they skip to the following year, even briefly, so you feel that there is an actual ending to the movie that doesn't come out of nowhere. I thought the female lead was wonderful in her role, and I believed the growth of the relationship. A nice treat!

Fight for yourself or yell about not getting the job?

[hallmarkmov · 5/10 · 18 October 2022]

A nice change from the typical saving a pumpkin farm or family festival with pumpkin spice everything but that's about it. I liked the title and the fall backdrop and even the plot of finding yourself by getting temp jobs around the city but that ending wasn't for me. The character might be talented however just barging in and yelling at the publisher to get them to look at your illustrations that happen to be still on the table instead of in the garbage just annoys me. I've seen this in quite a few hallmark movies and there has to be a better way to do this. Maybe going with another publisher instead? The movie gave me a feeling that New York was filled with people who escaped their families because of their disapproval of their life style and all live lonely together in apartments and cafe shops. The fake fall leaves was funny when it just randomly blew out of nowhere. It's not a memorable movie and I wouldn't watch it again. There are a lot better fall movies. Also the actress always looks like she's on the verge of tears and I can't tell if I'm watching a hallmark mystery movie or the regular lighthearted movie.

Quirky?

[Jackbv123 · 9/10 · 16 October 2022]

The story has bizarre moments. Early on, some were even slightly cringe worthy. What part of "be seen and not heard" did you not get, Piper? For a bit, I thought Piper was going to turn me off. To be honest, she mellowed a little as the movie went on which is not unusual. Writers like to establish some antagonism early on and once that is gotten past, the characters drop the really rough edges.

Piper is from a very small town background, but this is not your typical girl next door. She has some of the better qualities of that GND but she's much more than that. She knows how to be appealing to people, even virtual strangers, but she isn't at all fake. It is unrealistic how naive she is the way she is approaching finding a career, but as a viewer, I had to ignore that so that I could enjoy what was truly appealing about her character. And Piper is the reason I loved this movie.

Aimee Teagarden and Evan Roderick have great chemistry. Their dialogue helps. It's fun and interesting.

The story seems to ramble a bit, but in fact it's right where it wants to be.

Another thing that really irritated me early was Austin's mom. It's pretty bad when your mom doesn't let you order what you want for lunch even after you bring it up. He's a full grown adult, even if for a while he doesn't act like one.

One development from the latter half of the movie is totally predictable, but who Piper turned to totally surprised me.

I look forward to watching this again in the future because I'm pretty sure I'll pick up things I missed the first time.

Aimee Teagarden is the worst and I couldn't finish the movie despite trying repeatedly.

[rg79912 · 1/10 · 27 November 2022]

I tried to finish this movie 4 times. I couldn't. I find Aimee Teagarden so boring and lacking in personality. Also, I find her eyebrows so distracting...why do they stretch so far in between her eyes??? She makes the most miserable expressions all the time and it shows all over her face in her permanent lines. She is just so hard to watch and listen to. There's nothing natural about her acting because she comes across as uncomfortable in every scene or like she's trying to mimic a child the rest of the time. I don't get how she's supposed to be 30 but she comes off as looking and seeming like she's in her 40s cause she looks rough. Meanwhile the male lead looks really young next to her. He was fine in this, no real complaints other than his character needed more heart. He was wasted on her though. She really made the movie too difficult to sit through. This is the 3rd Hallmark movie of hers that I struggled to sit through. I really don't get why they keep casting her? She seems to be portraying characters who are youthful and full of life, but she is the oldest and most dead inside "young" person I've seen on the Hallmark channel. I love the Autumn movies and wish there were more of them, so I hate that there's one that I couldn't sit through. Her character and her portrayal of the character were just insufferable. I mean seriously? How is a 30 year old so incompetent and clueless??? Especially one who supposedly helped run a family business. I mean wow, and she's ungrateful and honestly not a character I felt I could root for. I really hope this is the last movie she ruins though. There are better actresses out there. Please find them Hallmark.

Average Romance At Best

[atlasmb · 5/10 · 13 January 2023]

This Hallmark romance takes place in New York City. Piper (Aimee Teegarden) moves from the Midwest to NYC to find herself. She doesn't know what career path to follow (though viewers can discern her eventual career immediately), so she temps at various jobs. When she meets her neighbor, Austin (Evan Roderick), things are not very cordial, but we know where this is going. Austin's dream is to write children's books, but he has put that option on a back burner.

The problem with this film is the script. The dialogue is stilted and unrealistic, particularly in the early going. If you can get past that, the rest of the story is endurable. Just don't expect any great plot twists.

Fresh, fun and original

[cincy-47983 · 9/10 · 21 October 2022]

We were pleasantly surprised with this fun movie. We normally have low expectations for Hallmark movies but this one did not disappoint. Every aspect of this was fresh. Great acting, music, production quality and more. The script had many new elements which added to the pleasure of watching it. Yes, the ending held no surprises but few movies ever do. Another positive was most every aspect was realistic and it would seem that the writers actually have an understanding of what it takes to get discovered and published. Defitely worth watching and we will look forward to seeing it again down the road.

Where have all the writers gone...?

[jereco · 5/10 · 26 October 2022]

Obviously romance writers are not expected to churn out "Citizen Kane," but couldn't they at least consult the dictionary? Worse than the fact that Roderick's character uses the term "hoi polloi" incorrectly (he uses it to refer to the rich, elite of society - but it means the rabble, the commoners), but no one corrected it. Does NO ONE on this production have a vocabulary? Or access to a dictionary. I wanted mindless entertainment, but...there are limits. Also, I agree with the reviewer that said the leads were mismatched - it bordered on a reverse "Lolita" - he didn't look old enough to drive, let alone drink, and while she's not old by any means, she looked ancient next to him. Creepy.

Never give up

[MickyG333 · 8/10 · 27 January 2023]

7.6 stars.

The theme is a simple one: never give up.

Piper (Teegarden) is a woman who breaks off from her parents' dream for her to work the family business the rest of her life. She has ideas for finding her own path, but the catch is she has no idea where to start.

This is the a peculiar film for Hallmark. The main character has no specific aspirations, no goals, no skills that she is aware of. She blindly goes to NYC and sublets an apartment, basically for free. She tries a dozen or so jobs and finally settles on a dream that was always right in front of her face.

I like this movie for the acting and the cityscape. The chemistry is nice, although I'd prefer something more to sink my teeth into. There are several unlikely circumstances that I will choose to ignore for the sake of enjoyment, but I must mention them. 1) The apartment would be so expensive she would need ten roommates to afford it. 2) Her art is just doodling? Nobody just doodles like that. Someone would have pointed out her talent years ago. 3) She lands so many jobs that anyone would basically give up an arm and leg for, and yet she just quits each on a whim. 4) Woke. Hallmark has gone headlong into wokeness, there is no turning back at this point. I think 2022 is the year they will look back and see this was the turning point that led to their decline and eventual ruin.

'Autumn in the City' is entertaining and has a good message. I like Teegarden a lot, and she is solid in this film.

Ending not really believable

[mguelkerwilson · 5/10 · 22 February 2023]

This movie spoke to me on a personal level, as a creative professional, both with Piper's sketching and Austin's writing. It was predictable, of course you knew they would end up collaborating together. The movie was moving along just fine until the culmination of Piper's dreams dashed. Bursting into a publisher's office and demanding she look at your work? Not realistic. Austin's declaration of telling the publisher he wouldn't let them publish his book(s) without Piper's illustrations should have come much earlier -- like when the publisher told him. As the author, he had absolute power -- it would have been a matter of negotiation between he and the publisher.

Loved the diversity slipped in with Will and Toby -- nicely done, they were a part of the story, rather than something shoved in there to check a box.

Overall, it's a fun watch, but the ending was a bit disappointing and rushed.

which city

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 4 March 2024]

29 year old Piper (Aimee Teegarden) left her job at the family firm and moved out to NYC to find a new path within two months. She's eager to start but nothing is working out. Grumpy aspiring writer Austin (Evan Roderick) is reluctantly following the footsteps of his famed journalist mother Patricia (Laura Soltis). He steals her taxi for their meet-cute. They actually live across from each other.

It's a Hallmark romance. This is doing Vancouver for NYC and it shows especially when they're walking the fake streets. The coffee shop isn't that authentic either. They do manage to get a couple of New York City scenes. They must have spent a day filming there. I don't like this guy. He would be more appealing if he's just bad at his job rather than not trying. I'm left waiting and waiting for them to accept their dream jobs. In the end, it is all very light weight and not that compelling.

Autumn in New York

[splashpont · 9/10 · 18 October 2022]

NYC is definitely experiencing a long-term autumn after the shutdowns of COVID in the early 2020s. That said, this film has some wonderfully real life NYC experiences (and funny lines).

For added fun while watching, down a shot of your favorite drink or edible every time you see a yellow taxi. (I wondered if it was the same cab in every scene. When I watch this movie again, I'll be checking out the license plate.)

The Washington Square arch and the Brooklyn Bridge Park views were perfection. (There was even a hint of a real taste of NYC fast food, i.e., Nathan's Coney Island hot dogs.)

The script is a love story to the Big Apple, some of its locals, and the people who flee to live there without a plan. Surprisingly enjoyable, despite having little to do with the autumn (and metaphorically more like spring); truly one of the better "new style Hallmark" flicks.

Not very good

[edblackham · 2/10 · 8 February 2024]

I saw Aimee in My Christmas family tree and thought she was amazing. That was the first thing I had ever seen her in. So I was excited to watch her in this one, and I don't know what happened to her in this one, but from the first second that she was on the screen, she lost her likability. There was also zero chemistry with her costar. It's almost like the casting director was happy with her, so they did not worry about it even having tryouts for any of the other parts. I've only done this a couple of times but here I am halfway through the show writing a review for a show that I absolutely wish I had not wasting my time on.