Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Autumn in New York Blu-ray Movie Review

Should you come and get this love story?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 29, 2018

It’s time for the “mash up” game again, when two decidedly disparate motion pictures have at least elements of their plots lifted and thrown into whatever the cinematic equivalent of a Cuisinart is to arrive at something supposedly “new”. Autumn in New York probably owes most of its “parentage” to a certain venerable 1970 enterprise known as Love Story, since the film deals with a terminally ill woman who is in a relationship, but the film arguably may owe at least a little to a much less remembered film, 1936’s Come and Get It. That venerable enterprise is the only film that bears the dual directorial imprimatur of two legends of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Howard Hawks and William Wyler (due to Hawks being removed from the project as it was close to wrapping), and it is regularly cited as having provided another legend, Frances Farmer, with her finest screen opportunity (ironically it was her co-star Walter Brennan who was feted with the first Supporting Actor Academy Award). Come and Get It is based on an Edna Ferber novel and has a lot of plot strands, but a central premise is that Edward Arnold’s character ends up falling in love with the daughter of a woman he had romantic feelings for decades earlier (Farmer portrays both women, and they are distinctly different characters in her performances). That aspect is at least hinted at in Autumn in New York, a middling film that offers Richard Gere as successful restauranteur Will Keane, a womanizer with a long history of “conquests”, but who rather unexpectedly falls for Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder), that aforementioned terminally ill woman who not so coincidentally is the daughter of a long ago main squeeze of Will’s.

Unlike Love Story, there’s really no “foreplay” before the terminal illness sets in, with Charlotte’s health issues being mentioned fairly early in the going. There is some introductory material with Will and his latest one night stand Lynn McCale (Jill Hennessy, one of two Law & Order alums in the cast) which makes it clear Will has a commitment problem. Kind of interestingly if tangentially, while it’s obvious Ryder’s character is supposed to have the sort of charming gamine qualities that many associate with Audrey Hepburn, it’s Hennessy who dresses up as one Holly Golightly at one point in the film.

Autumn in New York never really seems to know what it wants to be. A lot of the plot mechanics revolve around the difference in age between Will and Charlotte, and there’s a whole subplot involving Charlotte’s grandmother Dolly Talbot (Broadway legend Elaine Stritch), who is an old friend of Will’s. But there’s also a rather peculiar subplot that brings in Will’s estranged (and apparently illegitimate) daughter Lisa Tyler (Vera Farmiga), who is pregnant herself and wants to reconnect (or perhaps more saliently, connect) with the father she never knew. It’s like a virtual “pile on” of potentially melodramatic aspects, and it tends to weigh down a screenplay (by Allison Burnett) that still attempts to wring wry humor out of various moments.

One sign of just how ham fisted director Joan Chen (yep, that Joan Chen) handles this material comes toward the end of the film, when it’s already apparent that Charlotte is about to meet her maker. The “other” Law & Order alum, J.K. Simmons, is on hand as a crusading doctor, but he’s seen walking down a hallway after trying to treat Charlotte, and he throws his surgical mask and cap down on the floor in a sign of defeat. As if that weren’t enough of a “symbol”, Chen then almost hilariously cuts to various other characters who are all gathered together in a waiting area, pausing as each and every one of them shows signs of angst, sadness or disbelief. It’s just flat out silly and completely undercuts any emotion that may have been generated from the passing of a major character in a film.

The fact that the film then segues to a little coda involving Will, his daughter, and a newly born grandson is even more odd. What are we supposed to make of this? Is Will going to start dating his own daughter? That’s a joke, of course, but it’s almost a subtext in a kind of dewy, bittersweet “almost” happy ending that seems to suggest doomed love is only heartbreaking until some other diversion comes along.

Autumn in New York Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Autumn in New York is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual's new MVD Marquee imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Though this may be damning with faint praise, this is a generally respectable looking transfer from MGM, a studio not known for its curating of high definition versions of its catalog, especially since my hunch is this is an older master and not a recent restoration. My biggest issue with the transfer is that it often looks a little "dupey", with a kind of gray undertone that pokes through an otherwise relatively natural looking palette. Grain is also a bit on the coarse side at times, but overall resolves without any major issues. The film is appropriately autumnal, and some of the fall foliage and urban environments offer good detail levels, with quite a bit of the film being rather scenic in its own way. Chen favors a lot of close-ups for her two primary stars, and fine detail is typically very good in these moments.

Autumn in New York Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Autumn in New York features an LPCM stereo mix, along with a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 version. This is in essence a talkfest, though the film is graced with a number of nice source cues (including the gorgeous Vernon Duke standard that gave the film its name). The surround track does open up some of the music, and provides more immersion in the urban environments as well as scenes like the opening crowded birthday party or a later costume party, but for all intents and purposes the LPCM 2.0 track suffices quite nicely and has a noticeably fuller midrange and low end. Dialogue, score and effects are all presented cleanly and clearly without any issues.

Autumn in New York Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Gallery (1080i) is not authored with a timecode, but it does advance automatically, so have your remote handy if you want to pause on any given image.


• Trailers includes Autumn in New York (480p; 2:22), along with trailers for other MVD releases. Kind of interestingly, the trailer uses some alternate takes from what's in the finished film.

Autumn in New York Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This film's tag line (as evidenced by the verbiage on the front cover) was evidently "He fell in love for the first time. . .she fell in love forever", to which some curmudgeonly types (ahem) might add, "Until she died". That might be a bit on the churlish side, but Autumn in New York kind of invites that level of jaded reaction, since it wallows in so many clichés and tries to cover way too much emotional territory. Technical merits are generally okay if uninspiring for those considering a purchase.