Autumn in New York

Before he met her, he was convinced that no love could last forever. Now, he'd give anything to prove himself wrong. Richard Gere (Runaway Bride) and Golden GlobeÂ(r) winner Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted) star in this tender, compelling love story that will stir your soul and touch your heart. At 48 years old, Manhattan restaurateur Will Keane (Gere) is handsome, successful, single and determined to keep it that way. A consummate playboy who's perfected the art of casual romance, Will adores women, but has never thought seriously about marriage or commitment until he meets Charlotte Fielding (Ryder). Charming, vivacious and radiantly beautiful, Charlotte is unlike anyone Will's ever known before, and as their relationship blossoms from a heated one-night stand into something rare and wonderful, they both realize that this love will last a lifetime. But, for Charlotte, a lifetime may be much shorter than either of them is prepared to accept.

Autumn in New York is a by-the-numbers love story, right down to its opening shot of, yes, autumn in New York. Richard Gere stars as restaurateur/lady's man Will, while Winona Ryder plays the airy-fairy, oh-too-delicate-for-this-world Charlotte. Will is 48, Charlotte is 22, and it just keeps getting creepier: Will actually used to hang out with Charlotte's mom. She plays artily with beads and sparkly things, he notices how elfin and different she is (inspiring such stomach-churning dialogue as "I find you completely unprecedented and therefore utterly unpredictable"), and soon they're in love. Ah, but it's doomed: she has a tumor in her heart (just in case you missed the significance, Charlotte says "I'm sick in my heart!"). Does Charlotte have enough time left to teach Will to truly love? While Gere does a stoic job, Ryder spends a lot of time being darling and winsome, aided by the fact that Charlotte has managed to catch one of those special movie diseases where you never look bad or get tubes stuck up your nose. Director Joan Chen doesn't have much of a script to work with, but at least she knows how to pick a cinematographer; the whole movie is shot in gorgeous fall-leaf colors. Several excellent supporting actors are trapped in this movie: Jill Hennessey and Anthony LaPaglia do their very best, but what can they do in the face of such a sweeping, creepy love? Autumn in New York is nothing if not an earnest movie, and it certainly means well. Much like Charlotte, it seems to cry, "Can you let me love you? Please?" No. --Ali Davis