Film searches for romantic dream from a vanished age

A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK WOODY Allen’s film A Rainy Day in New York has been seen as a retro film of his, about intelligent disconnected youth in the form of Gatsby (Timothy Chalomet) who goes back to the scene of his privileged youth in Manhattan with girlfriend Ashleigh (Elle Fanning) for a weekend so she can have an interview with noted film director Roland Pollard (Liev Schreiber).

Gastsby plans on staying away from his mother’s soiree to which he’s been invited and expected, so he mooches around the city, bumping into a former schoolfriend who’s shooting a short film into which he is dragooned into taking a part with Chan (Selena Gomez) the younger sister of a girl he used to date.

Meanwhile, Ashleigh’s naivete seems to endear her to Roland who invites her to a screening of his latest film, which he describes as a “steaming pile of shit”.

During the screening Roland hives off, leaving her with his screenwriter Ted Davidoff (an unrecognisable Jude Law).

Ashleigh’s adventures in the high life of the movie business will lead to an encounter with a heartthrob star (Diega Luna).

Timothy Chalomet is such a fine young actor, the scene with his mother, played by Cherry Jones, is a master class in understatement.

Elle Fanning maybe chews the scenery as the ingenue journalist, but she’s actually endearing despite that. Selena Gomez plays her role with feminist gusto and Liev Schreiber is just splendid as the disillusioned and self-indulgent auteur.

Maybe you can interpret this film as a filmmaker blind to the times, but in a way I see Woody Allen being nostalgic about his own origins, his love of the city, romance, while also sharing his disillusionment about the industry that he’s committed his life to.

As Ashleigh says, Gatsby is “searching for a romantic dream from a vanished age”.

It’s actually quite lovely this Rainy Day in New York.