Will Keane is a 48-year old womanizer, which another character defines as "a person who has sex with many women and is good at lying about it". In one not quite so atypical night, he dumps a woman, goes on a date with a second woman, becomes attracted to a third woman. Will (ably played by Richard Gere) is a handsome upscale restaurant owner in New York who can't seem to make up his mind about what he wants in a mate. It's just his nature, he explains one night.

Charlotte Fielding on the other hand, is a 22-year old sort of free spirit. She loves Emily Dickenson, likes to make these cool artistic "hats", is funny and charming and innocent and falls madly in love with Will. Tragically, Charlotte (portrayed wonderfully by Winona Ryder) has a heart condition and she probably won't last another year (the movie starts in Autumn).

So there is this dark cloud hanging over their new relationship. Charlotte is resigned to her fate while Will has to deal with his feelings and with the future and what he is going to do about it. Conversely Will knows that he isn't a knight in shining armor, he is not a shining beacon of fidelity, and he is resigned to his nature. Charlotte in turn has to deal with how Will is and what she can do about it.

This is a love story with a twist. A May-December romance, a tragedy, a playboy versus the naive romantic. To support the two main characters there are several well-played friends and associates and family. Elaine Stritch plays Charlotte's grandmother Dolores. She actually knows Will already and surprisingly there is an almost incestuos relationship between Will and Charlotte.

Anthony LaPlaglia plays Will's good friend and ma”tre d' of Will's restaurant, John. John doesn't approve of Will's romances and he is not afraid to say so, but he is also a supportive friend. Sherry Stringfield plays Sarah, John's wife, but she and the kids don't have that much of a role in the movie.

Finally, there is a secondary plot that intermingles with the main plot. Lisa Tyler (played by Vera Farmiga) is Will's daughter, from a previous romance. She recently moved to New York with her husband and has finally found Will. Lisa is looking for truth, to know if Will feels anything for her, if he's sorry for not being there, if he has any redeeming qualities whatsoever. She is part of Will's past, Charlotte is part of his present, and Will has to deal with those conflicting emotions.

In writing a movie review, and I've said this before, I don't want to give away major plot points. I don't want to give away the movie, but I do want to be able to describe the movie in enough detail so that a reader can be interested or not by what I write. So writing about Lisa may be a little much because she only comes in at the midpoint of the movie, and is a significant character. But I also want to indicate that there is more going on that what I've written about the basic plot.

This is a concern with any sort of movie review. I always leave out a great many little things, and some of the critical big things. I believe most movies that I've seen are worth watching, at least in the theatre. Unlike some people, I believe every movie is better when seen in a theatre, so rather than wait for a mediocre movie to make it to video people should see it on the big screen.

To end it, this is a good movie. A great romance with outstanding performances from Richard Gere and Winona Ryder. The movie's cinematography is well done and the scenes are all crisp and clear. I didn't think there wasn't anything missing nor anything extraneous. It's a good date movie, although I don't like that term because it usually means "the women will like it but it'll be boring for the men".