Taglines: He fell in love for the first time… she fell in love forever.
Autumn in New York movie storyline. Forty-eight year old Will Keane is a successful restaurateur and serial womanizer, his reputation generally preceding him. When he is introduced to twenty-two year old Charlotte Fielding by Charlotte’s grandmother, Will’s old friend Dolly who he has not seen in years, there is a mutual but slow to acknowledge attraction.
After their first date, Will and Charlotte agree that their relationship will never progress to one of a long term standing, but for different reasons: while this is Will’s somewhat standard modus operandi, Charlotte announces that she has a terminal heart condition. Charlotte’s admission makes Will look at this relationship differently, he being told by his best friend John that if he is going to continue to date Charlotte that he better treat her well. Their relationship does end up being different than both expect, for Charlotte which could mean a change from her current “let me die in peace” attitude to want to fight for her life. And Will’s time with Charlotte is further influenced by his encounter with a young woman named Lisa Tyler.
Autumn in New York is a 2000 American romantic drama film directed by Joan Chen and starring Richard Gere, Winona Ryder, and Anthony LaPaglia. Written by Allison Burnett, the film follows a successful middle-aged restaurateur and womanizer who falls in love with a sweet young woman who is terminally ill.
The film opened in the number 4 spot at the North American box office, earning $10,987,006 in its opening weekend, behind The Replacements, Space Cowboys, and Hollow Man. Autumn in New York earned $37,761,915 in domestic gross revenue, and $90,726,668 in gross revenue worldwide.
About the Story
Will Keane (Richard Gere) is a successful 48-year-old restaurateur and womanizer who is the subject of a recent New York magazine cover story. Charlotte Fielding (Winona Ryder) is a free-spirited, 22-year-old woman brought to Will’s upscale restaurant by her grandmother and friends to celebrate her birthday. Will notices her immediately and her grandmother, an old friend of his, introduces them. Will admires the hats she made for the occasion and is surprised to learn that Charlotte is the daughter of one of his old girlfriends, Katy, who died in a car accident.
The next day, Will calls and asks Charlotte to make a hat for his date to an upcoming benefit dinner. A few days later, she delivers the hat to his apartment. Stood up by his date, he invites her to accompany him to the formal benefit. There they dance, get to know each other and later end up back at his apartment where they have sex. The next morning, while having breakfast on his terrace, Will explains that their relationship has no future. She acknowledges this, revealing she is dying from a heart condition. Later, Will tells his friend, John Volpe (Anthony LaPaglia), about his interest in Charlotte.
The next day, Will calls on Charlotte and they go out together. They talk about their age difference and her illness. As they walk through the beautiful fall foliage in Central Park, Charlotte recites lines from the poem “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. As they talk, she notices him checking his watch, and she takes it from his wrist, saying she’ll return it when he forgets that she has it. At his restaurant, they continue to get to know each other while preparing a meal for his staff. Watching her among his friends, he begins to fall in love.
Back at his apartment, Charlotte experiences severe heart pain. At the hospital, Will learns from the doctor that she is suffering from neuroblastoma, a rare illness in adults, which in her case produced a tumor near her heart. She has perhaps a year to live. In the coming days, their relationship grows and she learns more about him. When she asks why he is so interested in food, Will responds, “Food is the only beautiful thing that truly nourishes.”
At a Halloween party, Charlotte, dressed as Emily Dickinson, entertains children by reciting lines from one of Dickinson’s poems and bringing the words to life with butterflies on her fingers: “Two butterflies went out at noon and waltzed above a stream, then stepped straight through the firmament and rested on a beam; and then together bore away upon a shining sea – though never yet, in any port, their coming mentioned be.” Meanwhile, in another room, Will meets a former girlfriend and the two end up on the roof having sex. Later, Charlotte suspects that he was unfaithful, and after denying it, he acknowledges his actions. Charlotte breaks off their relationship. They are both deeply affected by the breakup.
Meanwhile, Will receives a letter from Lisa Tyler (Vera Farmiga), the illegitimate daughter he’s never met. He goes to the museum where she works and recognizes her from an old photo, but he is unable to approach her. A few nights later he arrives home and Lisa is waiting for him in the lobby; they talk for the first time. She is pregnant and has become sentimental about parenthood, wanting just to meet her own father. She tells him about a dream she’s had, that he’s been trying to find her all these years in order to say he was sorry for abandoning her. Will says quietly, “Yes I am.”
Filming Locations
— Manhattan, New York City, New York
— Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York
— Rockefeller Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York
— Wollman Skating Rink, 830 5th Avenue, New York City, New York
— Bow Bridge, The Ramble and Lake, Central Park, Central Park, —– Manhattan, New York City, New York
— 88 Greenwich Street and Rector Street, Manhattan
— 458 Washington Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York
— 66 Morton Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York
— Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, Bowling Green, Manhattan (Native American Museum of New York)
Autumn in New York (2000)
Directed by: Joan Chen
Starring: Richard Gere, Winona Ryder, Anthony LaPaglia, Elaine Stritch, Vera Farmiga, Sherry Stringfield, Jill Hennessy, Mary Beth Hurt, Kali Rocha, Steven Randazzo
Screenplay by: Allison Burnett
Production Design by: Mark Friedberg
Filmography by: Changwei Gu
Film Editing by: Ruby Yang
Costume Design by: Carol Oditz
Set Decoration by: Catherine Davis
Music by: Gabriel Yared
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, (USA and Canada), Columbia Pictures (International)
Release Date: August 11, 2000
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