Autumn in New York (2000)

This movie starts with Gere flirting with a pregnant woman. To “make her feel good.”

Gere: Another thing. You say “wow” a lot.
Ryder: Yeah…
Gere: You’re a grown-up now. When is that gonna stop?

That’s from a ~50 yo to a 22 yo he just met.

It isn’t that the mechanics of this aren’t romantic—it has a grandness in scope and looks to capture the excitement of something new. It makes NY society a place of magic instead of hot garbage.

It’s just that there’s no chemistry between them and, per the details—the crazy age disparity and the fact that he’d dated her mom—there really shouldn’t be. That renders the romantic, ie, the elements you have to give yourself…