Richard Gere’s phoniest acting tic has to be the way that he tosses back his head and laughs, in ”spontaneous” delight, at his romantic costar.

Utterly banal, Joan Chen's tediously sappy romance is a kind of modern-day Love Story (a better film!) with a "twist": Richard Gere's suave lover is old enough to be Winona Ryder's father.

Melodrama is bad enough, contrived melodrama is worse, and badly written contrived melodrama is Autumn in New York.

"Autumn in New York" is made to tug at our heartstrings. But with its rote story line, the film proves to be little more than pretty eye candy in the form of stars Richard Gere and Winona Ryder.