Rent A Rainy Day in New York (2019)

Witty and upbeat - A Rainy Day in New York review by AB

This is a light-hearted, witty film, just the thing for dismal winter nights. Sure, it is dialogue heavy but mostly it is sparkling stuff. We laughed aloud at some of the typical Woody Allen gags. There are also amusing elements of farce in the mix. Good fun.

Bland and pretentious - A Rainy Day in New York review by Alphaville

Timothée Chalamet wanders around New York telling us his thoughts in voiceover as he meets people as wealthy as he is (he’s called Gatsby, but he’s really a young Woody Allen in disguise). His ditsy girlfriend Elle Fanning from Tucson (cue jokes about the backwardness of Arizona) meets other people but doesn’t get a voiceover. Not that we need any voiceovers, because most of the dialogue is little more than people telling us their thoughts anyway.

The monologues/dialogues are full of elderly and pretentious references to New York and artists that Allen likes, but they sound ridiculous coming out of the mouths of the young actors, who sound almost embarrassed to be speaking their lines. As for the score… Bing Crosby, anyone? It’s all so lightweight that every scene disappears from memory as soon as it’s over.

It does improve slightly as the characters move from one mildly awkward encounter to another, but all attempts at humour fall embarrassingly flat. Allen continues to get to make the films he wants, so good for him, but sad to say this one is a completely empty exercise. Sorry, Woody.

Lets be honest... - A Rainy Day in New York review by RW

...you either love Woody Allen or don't. He's like marmite, and if you don't like him it's highly unlikely you'll seek out any of his work to change your opinion. If you like him, you just "get it"

Back in the 80's when I was around 13/14 years old BBC2 showed a season of Woodys films late at night, namely the "earlier funny ones", Sleeper, Bananas, Love and Death etc. From that moment on I became a huge fan and to this day I still eagerly await his new movies. Now, I admit he doesn't always hit the mark but I will still take a mediocre film from Woody over most of the tripe that the film industry spews out these days.

This movie is unmistakably Woody, we have his trademark title sequence, his choice of music, (jazz obviously!) and his romanticised view of the world and situations. We have interesting characters and a brisk script with the odd witty comment that hurries the film along. Indeed brevity is one of Woodys strongpoints, this like many of his movies comes in just under 90 minutes, and for me it was 90 minutes well spent. Whilst this is by no means one of his best films I was still absorbed and entertained as the story unfolded. There's something cosy about Woodys films, like a pair of comfy slippers, they're a nice place to spend some time...no wall to wall CGI, editing that could give you a seizure or a camera that constantly shakes around to give that y'know "gritty style". Some may say his style is old school, which could be true...but thats no bad thing....the "new school" is invariably style over substance anyway.

I for one am glad that at 84 years old and with some 60 odd films under his belt he's still out there , and trying.

Typical Woody - A Rainy Day in New York review by JB

Liked this film more than I thought I would .A young college couple go to New York for a weekend .Him to show her all the places he knows and her to do an interview for her college paper with a well known film director.They get split up and he meets a sister of someone he used to go out with and they get on very well in the rain .She meanwhile ,has 3 different men in the film industry try to seduce her,the last one,a heartthrob actor,would have succeeded if his partner hadn't arrived home unexpectedly. Being a Woody film the banter is everything.I did enjoy it hence the 4 stars .JB

Lovely Romantic Woody Allen Classic - A Rainy Day in New York review by EP

Really enjoyed this one from Woody. New York preppies having comedy of errors with romantic undertones and great cameo performances. Lovely music - soft jazz.

Great scenes, just wonderful.

Ed

So bad it's bad. - A Rainy Day in New York review by Edward

I rented this film because I'm a fan of Timothee Chalamet. I can understand why Chalamet has disowned this film, subsequently.

Wooden acting due to the stilted script and director; the actors are not at fault.

Turned off after ten minutes. Couldn't face ninety minutes of this pretentious trash.

Glossy rich kids romcom - A Rainy Day in New York review by LC

An amiable and watchable romantic comedy, with some decent performances (particularly from Elle Fanning), though occasionally the dialogue creaks a bit, as all the young leads seem to have cultural references of people at least twice their age. The colourful cinematography and opulent locations make everything look gorgeous, though there is a slight flip-side to this: everyone involved is sickeningly, hideously rich - and ultimately it can become quite hard to care for the emotional struggles of these privileged elites who one suspects will never know a day's real hardship in their lives. Still - it's nice to look at, and plays out entertainingly enough. (3.5 out of 5)