Director: Woody Allen | Cast: Timothée Chalamet (Gatsby), Elle Fanning (Ashleigh), Selena Gomez (Shannon), Jude Law (Ted Davidoff), Diego Luna (Francisco Vega), Liev Schreiber (Roland Pollard), e.a. | Playing time: 93 minutes | Year: 2019
Here it is: the fiftieth film Woody Allen wrote and directed. The film was in danger of never being released again during the peak of the #metoo movement, but A Rainy Day in New York can now be seen in the Netherlands and a select number of other European countries. With another dreamy declaration of love to the city of New York, the renowned style of the eighty-three-year-old director is unmistakable. It is therefore good that this film is now available to the public. A Rainy Day in New York may not be a masterpiece, but it is one of Allen’s better films of recent years.
The young couple Gatsby and Ashleigh spend a weekend in New York. The two study at Yardley College outside New York. Ashleigh has had the unique opportunity to interview acclaimed director Roland Pollard for her school newspaper. Gatsby hooks up to show Ashleigh the New York he loves so much. However, the two soon lose sight of each other, after which they have completely different adventures. Gatsby relives part of his past as he wanders through New York, while Ashleigh finds himself embroiled in all sorts of situations with a director, a screenwriter and a well-known actor.
Timothée Chalamet plays a pleasant version of Woody Allen’s cultured personality. Gatsby loves old movies, jazz and of course the Upper East-Side. Gatsby is dreamy, a bit autistic and has quite a few neuroses. Where Gatsby from The Great Gatsby mainly projects his romantic ideas onto Daisy, the Gatsby from this film mainly has a nostalgic longing for a New York that may have never existed. It’s the same nostalgia that the main character of Midnight in Paris also seemed to suffer. Elle Fanning plays the even more neurotic Ashleigh. She is a lot more realistic in life than Gatsby, but is quickly carried away by the glamor of Hollywood.
The three men Ashleigh hangs out with all want something from her. Tormented and alcoholic director Roland Pollard sees Ashleigh as a muse for his new work. Screenwriter Ted Davidoff sees Ashleigh as a savior when his marriage is on the rocks. Actor Franscisco Vega is only out for sex. With this, Woody Allen seems to indicate that Hollywood treats women in the wrong way. In fact, that makes it even weirder that Amazon Studios is still refusing to release this movie in the United States.
The unbelievably large oeuvre of the New York filmmaker consists of a number of masterpieces and at the same time many misses. A Rainy Day in New York is certainly not one of his masterpieces, but it is a pleasant and escapist stroll through Manhattan. Celebrated cinematographer Vittorio Storaro captures it all beautifully. Not every scene is as witty and some are downright bland, but the film does have the power to transform you for a moment into a world where old movies and jazz are the main concerns.
