A New York comedy and not just romantic, with charm.
“I need a drink, a cigarette and an Irving Berlin tune.”
The young Gatsby takes his girlfriend to Manhattan for a romantic weekend. He ran a dreamy, postcard-worthy program for his Ashleigh who grew up in Tucson Arizona and came to New York twice, aged 2 and 12.
So, a suite at the Pierre hotel with a view of Central Park, exhibition at Moma, aperitif at the Carlyle piano bar and dinner in a fancy restaurant. All this, from Saturday 1pm, after Ashleigh’s interview with a prestigious film director for their university’s gazette.
It is now 7 p.m. and Gatsby still hasn’t seen Ashleigh again. Over the phone, she gave him a few confusing bits of information about his inability to reach him. And now he has just seen it on a TV screen on the arm of a movie star.
In his case, everyone would need a drink, maybe even a cigarette, but who would need an Irving Berlin melody?
Woody Allen. Because Irving Berlin or Erroll Garner know how to go about cheering him up.
Charm and spirit
A Rainy Day in New York is a film of a simplicity, a classicism close to the purity. On the one hand, a boy kills the weather in Manhattan on a gray day that turns to rain, waiting for his girlfriend to return. On the other, this one, apprentice journalist, is torn between her heart and her ambition, a scoop at hand and the opportunity to go behind the scenes of the cinema with a depressed director, a jealous screenwriter, an actor dredger. All three share the same idea, hold it back. An idea to which she always offers less resistance. It’s basic but with a rhythm, a fluidity, a constant dramatic progression, a virtuoso parallel editing. In short, a comedy not only romantic, with charm.
To get over it, why not a drink, a cigarette and an Irving Berlin song!
These 92 minutes, we will not forget them because we do not forget 92 minutes of happiness. We throbbed at the thwarted loves of lovebirds. We savored the bursts of punchlines. We visited New York as a well-guided tourist. We shared this feeling that we don’t know everything about our parents. We saw an ordinary walk turn into a crossroads. We wondered about the impact of cinema on reality. We admired the subtle variations in Elle Fanning’s acting and her comedic potential with just a little hiccup. We tasted the volcanic temperament of Selena Gomez, whose replicas are so many scuds. We were nailed by the monologue of a stranger, Cherry Jones. And we recognized Woody Allen in Timothée Chalamet. We even melted while listening to him hum a song on the piano. Was it from Berlin?
A Woody from the best time
A rainy day in New York, it’s a Woody Allen from the best era, timeless as Manhattan, Annie Hall, Radio Days, Broadway Danny Rose or The Purple Rose of Cairo. One more declaration of love for his city, the corners, the atmospheres, the music he loves. A portrait of his crested inhabitants sketched with causticity, and of himself with self-mockery. A New York of cinema, a New York that does not exist because cinema is really living in a time, in a place with people who do not exist. Or more. A time, for example, when everyone liked Irving Berlin.
Is it a little Woody, a big Allen? It’s pure Woody Allen and it’s recognizable as Irving Berlin because it transports us to paradise. “Heaven, I’m in heaven, And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak, And I seem to find the happiness I seek, When we’re out together dancing, cheek to cheek.“Thanks Woody. Thanks Irving.
A Rainy Day in New York / A Rainy Day in New York Romantic comedy Of Woody Allen Scenario Woody Allen Image Vittorio Storaro Sets Santo Loquasto With Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez, Jude Law Duration 1h 32.
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