A Rainy Day in New York
U.S.A. 2019

Opening 5 Dec 2019

Directed by: Woody Allen
Writing credits: Woody Allen
Principal actors: Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Liev Schreiber, Suzanne Smith, Olivia Boreham-Wing

Ashleigh (Elle Fanning) and Gatsby (Timothée Chalamet) are college students in upstate New York and, when Ashleigh gets an appointment to interview film director Roland Pollard (Liev Schreiber from the TV series Donovan), Gatsby proposes a weekend together in Manhattan.  He is a wealthy Manhattanite and wants to show her "his" New York, stay in a luxurious hotel, go to a famous bar, etc. Ashleigh also comes from a moneyed family but she is from out west and the New York experience excites her beyond her wildest dreams. She meets Pollard and then - easily impressed - goes from one crazy situation to the next trying to help him. In the meantime, Gatsby is moping around New York in the rain and runs into Shannon (Selena Gomez), the sister of an old girlfriend. She manages to put things into perspective for him.

The romantic comedy is mostly about the romance of being in New York. Some have called it out of date. I call it as original as Woody Allen's first movies were. Whether you want to see it in spite of the controversy about Allen and the MeToo Movement is your own decision! (Thelma Freedman)