201. A Rainy Day In New York; movie review

A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK
Cert 15
89 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate sex references, drug misuse

Woody Allen is 84 years old and directed his first movie in 1966. It can't be too much of a surprise that he has run out of ideas.
A Rainy Day in New York looks like an Allen film, sounds like and Allen film and is, ultimately, as dissatisfying as many recent Allen films.
It's true that he is no longer casting himself but anyone who has seen Allen in his youth could have imagined him speaking Timothée Chalamet's dialogue.
My problem with most Allen movies is that its characters are universally ghastly and there is no change here.
Chalamet plays Gatsby - a rich student who is erudite, a victor on poker tables and attractive to beautiful young women.
He is the opposite of what Americans would call a jock. Yes, this is what Allen would perceive of himself if he were in his 20s.
Gatsby's girlfriend is Ashleigh (Elle Fanning), who initially strikes the audience as naive but the more the film progresses the more clear her ambitions become.
The two organise a trip to New York when she is granted an interview with a film director (Liev Schreiber) for their university newspaper.
Fanning's Ashleigh is a rarity in an Allen film because she seems so happy and spontaneous.
While Gatsby is verbally disassembling society, her fixed grin greets Shreiber's melancholic director, Jude Law's intense screenwriter and Diego Luna's lusty superstar actor.
No surprise what they all seem to have in mind - exactly what Allen did when he was younger.
While Ashleigh is being pursued by big screen royalty, Gatsby meets his hard-bitten intellectual match in his former girlfriend's sister (Selena Gomez).
They exchanged barbs and a sexual tension begins to rise which becomes even more obvious when Gomez changes into the shortest of short skirts.
Yes, I couldn't help but think of Allen's notorious past when I saw both what both Fanning and Gomez were wearing. Was it really necessary?
But was any of it? Rich people in New York trying to prove they are superior to one another or falling foul of their own foibles. Is that even interesting? Not in my view - and it certainly isn't funny.

Reasons to watch: If you are a Woody Allen fan
Reasons to avoid: Far too clever for its own good

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 3.5/10

Did you know? Woody Allen has received the most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, with 16. He has won four Academy Awards, one for Best Director, and three for Best Original Screenplay. He also garnered nine British Academy Film Awards.

The final word. Timothée Chalamet: "I have been asked in a few recent interviews about my decision to work on a film with Woody Allen but what I can say is this: I don't want to profit from my work on the film, and to that end, I am going to donate my entire salary to three charities: Time’s Up, the LGBT Centre in New York, and RAINN.”

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