'A Rainy Day in New York', Woody in (his) Wonderland

A Rainy Day in New York

I skipped the last two movies by Woody Allen, ‘Wonder Wheel’ and ‘Cafe Society’, just because one couldn’t help having that very sad feeling the maestro is dealing with a serious case of creative exhaustion. For the same reason, I was also considering passing on ‘A Rainy Day in New York’, but some amiable reviews commenting the veteran director was revisiting 'The Great Gatsby' and 'The Catcher in the Rye' in a romantic comedy settled in his beloved Manhattan made me think it was worth trying. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

There’s a powerful sense of Allen rehashing himself from almost the very first frame of the film, with a plot, a very young couple spending the weekend in Manhattan where, under bad weather, they will live a series of adventures and (romantic, familiar) revelations, being a mere excuse for the New yorker to indulge himself into his most well-known territory, his comforting Wonderland. Because ‘A Rainy Day in New York’ is so woodyallenesque that at some point I thought the movie was done just for his own pleasure. Even more so considering what has been going around his persona and career lately.

With that idea in mind, the movie could be seen as the work of a nostalgic director surrendering to a serene, anachronic yet friendly contemplation of the things he loves. That personal, trademark look to art, cinema, and more importantly, life, runs through Gatsby Wells (Timothée Chamalet), an alter ego with the most presumptuous name ever, who considers himself somewhat of an illustrated beatnik, the last romantic hero, an unbeatable gambler forced to study at Yardley (elite university, of course), and who is rebelling (at least he thinks so) against his extremely wealthy family… while the pay the bills of his dreamlike life. Gatsby’s romantic partner, yet at the same time opposing force in the movie is Ashleigh Enright (Elle Fanning), an optimistic, innocent girl from Kansas (the "other America"), also a young millionaire, whose journalist duties at Yardley allows her to interview a cult-movie director in the 'Big Apple'.

So, we have two very different leading characters involved in a crazy, romantic adventure that splits into two stories, one of them including an inside portrait of the world of cinema (by far the most entertaining side of the movie, with enjoyable supporting roles played by Jude Law, Liv Schreiber or Diego Luna), a lot of jazz everywhere, dozens of literary references, conversations about love and philosophy taking place within stunning apartments, museums and the coolest bars of 'the city that never sleeps'. It’s the kind of stuff that should work smoothly in the hands of Woody Allen… But it doesn’t.

To begin with, because ‘A Rainy Day in New York’ sounds completely unbelievable, Allen’s young people talk as if they were playing a period piece, being posh and annoying as anything he has ever portrayed. One thing is to fall into nostalgia, but being that rigid and from another era (not even a Whatsapp message?) kills the possibility to relate with the main characters. But there’s worse. The film is not funny at all, jokes seems outdated and the situations the two confront (particularly Gatsby) are missing the comical element. Appalling considering who wrote the script, the satire about the upper classes and intellectual elites is pretty shallow in my opinion… And that’s not all folks. Because when Allen tries to shift from a comedy to a serious tale about Gatsby’s finding his true identity… all the lightweight “watchability” of the script and tone of the movie falls apart.

To my eyes, there’s only one aspect of ‘A Rainy Day in New York’, aside from Vittorio Storaro’s photography, that deserves to be highlighted. That’s Elle Fanning performance, graceful, bright and loose enough to make her side of the story engaging (wish the movie would have been about her movie quest instead, so much potential), the lonely anchor of otherwise a pretty lifeless film. Guess I know this might sound pretty harsh. The movie could have a pass as a failed yet well-intentioned comedy. But again, this is Woody Allen who are talking about. He has done this film a hundred times before, and way way better.

SCORE: 4,75/10

"Somewhere", Sofia Coppola's take on fame

Somewhere

Before I start the review: I love Sofia Coppola. She is responsible of my favourite movie, "Lost In Translation". I can't praise enough her talents: an incredible sensitivity for capturing human nature, an unbeatable ability to transmit feelings like fragility, loneliness and despair without making a drama, and unparalleled subtlety, and an amazing visual display, added to a great music taste. She's one of my favourite directors.

Having said that, "Somewhere" is a disappointment. Sofia's visual and sensitive touch is still present, and her take on Hollywood's fame is original and personal. But the film is, at times, barely death, and seriously cold. It is not about the quiet, lengthy scenes or the lack of dialogue. It's about the essence of the movie and its incapacity of connecting with the spectator.

If I compare with Sofia's previous trilogy there's evidently something missing here. I easily empathized with the Lisbon's sisters and the boys who idealised them. Needless to say, I truly fell in love with Bob Harris and Charlotte isolation, loneliness and expectations story, being compelled with a movie that was as visually precious and suggestive as powerfully human. Sofia's talent made me even felt moved by a queen's story, as behind all Versalles paraphernalia there was a trapped human being, a teenager willing to live. But in "Somewhere" there's nothing of that.

Johnny Marco (convincing Stephen Dorff) is a famous actor that lives the real "dreamed celebrity life" (sex, parties, adoration)... without really knowing if that what he wants. "Somewhere" is realistic in portraying the disconnection from the "real world" such a person might suffer, and I guess is also right in showing how he wanders in his meaningless life...but you don't really care. I mean, I cannot "buy" the sort of "celebrity despair" Marco's face, because I don't have any information telling me he didn't have the chance of doing something different, or that he is not free in changing his lifestyle if he feels that's what he wants. I'm very sorry to say that, in my opinion, "Somewhere" has a serious issue in what regards to storytelling, which is absolutely essential when you are showing an inner evolution of a "character in transition". 

There's no balance between scenes, and I couldn't say there's a real character study or human interaction except when Cleo (Marco's 11 years old daughter, brilliantly performed by Elle Fanning) and Dorff are on screen. Sofia Coppola, probably on purpose, constructs the film in a scene-after-scene accumulation basis. There are two moments (that won't spoil) where it seems a climax might be arriving, but the information or the emotion is lacking to go further. That leaves you wondering if you are not getting the point of the movie, once it abruptly ends, or there's nothing to understand about, and if there has been a real process on Dorff's character.

"Somewhere" is interesting (loved the inside cinema scenes), somewhat attractive, but ultimately frustrating and, sadly, a bit insipid.

SCORE: 5,75/10