A Rainy Day in New York

 

A Rainy Day in New York follows a couple (Elle Fanning and Timothee Chalamet) on their trip to New York where their relationship is put to the test, leaving them choosing to go down different paths. I really liked this movie, it is very unique and has a different feel to it than any other romantic comedy. I wouldn’t say it's much of a comedy though, and the pacing is very slow but from a film geek's perspective, it is a very beautiful film.




The film is beautiful to watch and I love how they actually filmed it in New York. The film has a warm aesthetic, look and feels to it. They go through a lot of different locations around New York and they are all very different from one another. The film is very stylistic and only film geeks or people who know a lot about or analyze films will probably pick up on or like them. For example the style of the credits and the way they did them at the beginning instead of the end. Then there was the way they shot the film in a series of long takes. It makes the film look more cohesive, and I liked how the camera followed the characters and was not fixed to one spot. You forget the camera is even there, you become a part of the film. I think the movement of a camera is something that goes underlooked in movies today and the camera is usually fixed to the over the shoulder 180-degree rules.




As for the actors and their characters, I love Timothee Chalamet and he did a great job in this film with his portrayal of Gatsby (I also like the nod to The Great Gatsby). I like that his character really just loves New York, which is neat given Timothee Chalamet is actually from New York. I think he brings some authenticity to the role, where Gatsby feels like a real person. I liked Selena Gomez’s character a lot and I wish she was featured more in the film. As for Elle Fanning’s character, I found her pretty annoying and hard to watch honestly.  I think that is supposed to be part of the character in a way because if you liked her a lot you would think Gatsby was a jerk for leaving her. While I think by making her unappealing and doing all this shady stuff behind Gatsby’s back, it justifies why Gatsby is done with her and his life at a college he doesn’t even like. Them breaking up allows him to pursue his life in New York, rebel a bit and start a new. 




I really liked the music used in the film, which is mostly piano songs and jazz. The dialogue in the film is well scripted and the narration on top helps sets a tone for the film. There are a lot of one-liners throughout the film that stands out and leave you thinking. One that stuck out to me was “I don’t know what I want to be, I just know what I don’t want to be”. Which I think perfectly describes the way we look at the future. We always know where we don’t want to end up but no one has a clear and perfect plan for the future. No one knows what will happen but that’s the beauty of life isn’t it, that you don’t know what's coming next, or what we want. I think that’s why I really like Gatsby because he is relatable and you understand his position and how he feels kind of stuck. He doesn’t know where he is going, he is just figuring out as he goes.




This movie is available absolutely nowhere in Canada so I rented it. I really liked this film, I know it doesn’t have the greatest reviews but it is a fun and light movie. I think the story is well thought out and holds a lot of hidden messaging that you need to pick apart to understand the film in its entirety. I think this is a film for film geeks and people who like to analyze films. To me, it is one of those films you get something out of, where you actually retain what the film is about hours after you watch it and you remember small details. I highly recommend this film, it's very beautiful and unique for a film of this genre. It doesn’t fit the rom-com mould and I love a good movie in New York.