A Rainy Day in New York

Lacks any depth, fails to be funny, the dialogues are artificial, and Elle Fanning plays unbearably irritable character. The setting is really beautiful though and Timothée Chalamet is always a pleasure to watch. Overall, not a bad experience but I was hoping for a better story.

Nothing too surprising. This is Woody Allen in Manhattan. "A rainy day in New York" came to me as a rather naive and refreshing way of doing what W Allen does. Gastby and Ashleigh question what they are and what they are becoming. They do that - to my perception - through the eyes of someone of their age. They think but do not overthink. Action immediately follows. They do not get lost in doubts and do not have to deal with an ego bigger than them. They act, they feel, they learn and repeat. They have so much to learn from that one day. I found all three young characters likeable and empowered, and the actors on top of their game (Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning and Selena Gomez). I would have loved to spend that day by their side The rain never bothered me anyways.

It's true that Woody Allen is writing silly dialogue that's completely old-fashioned and way above the heads of any youngster in New York, and it's true that the story here is completely silly and motivations are way off. But it's somehow a charming way to spend a couple of hours. Elle Fanning is kooky and does her best to be a chip off the old Diane Keaton block. Timothee Chalamet is dreamy and solid but doesn't get enough clout. I'm not fond of the huddle of middle-aged film lotharios jumping all over Fanning, and I don't think Selena Gomez had enough sharp lines. However, it's another study from Allen of New York as a live character taking over the people in it and sweeping them along. Cherry Jones is extremely well-cast as the mother with a secret and Allen saves the best till last. I probably won't watch it again for a long time, not one of his best but not the worst either. It's a shame that Netflix have done what they did to Allen. Not just for him, but the hundreds of names that rolled past in the credits of all the cast and crew who worked so hard on this movie to have it junked in the US, who did nothing to deserve this. Thank god I live in Europe where art is respected, and we have the intelligence to separate the work from the artist. I look forward to the next one to come out.

In the age of super hero films I'm glad that there is still someone who is making films with witty dialog. Woody Allen should be praised for that. But in this film neither the dialog nor the story works.

"Hannah and Her Sisters" works so well because Woody Allen understood these characters--how they talk and behave. He knew how to write for them.

That was 1986. Now it's 2019.

21-year-olds in 2019 don't say "I need a drink, a cigarette and a Berlin ballad." No matter what their background that's not how they would talk.

"A Rainy Day in New York" is filled with references that no one born in the late 1990s would have. Songs by Gershwin, Porter, Berlin. Films from the 1930s and 40s. And the name of the lead character, Gatsby Welles, is just a little too cute. All of these are Woody Allen references. The problem is trying to force these references on these characters. It doesn't work.

Maybe this film is meant to be a fantasy. It's not how 21-year-olds talk and behave in the modern world. It's how Woody Allen wishes they talked and behaved.

No one wants to see a film about people staring into their phones but the truth is that the two leading characters would have been texting each other every few minutes and wouldn't have gotten so completely separated from each other. I think it's clear that Woody Allen hates cell phones because they get in the way of his stories.

I would have suggested two important changes to the film. Have it take place 25 years earlier--1994 instead of 2019, before everyone had their own phone--and make the characters in their mid-30s instead of their early 20s. With those two changes I think this would be remembered as one of Woody Allen's better films. As it stands he's created characters he doesn't know or understand and, unfortunately, it shows.

Everything you would expect from a Woody Allen film taking place in New York City. Great dialogue and a decent story with great acting.