Romancing Indy

At the movie8217;s preview last Wednesday, Ms. Allen was greeted by flash bulbs, autograph hounds and knitting enthusiasts. One woman hugged Ms. Allen and said, 8220;I don8217;t know if you remember me, but I took your knitting class.8221;

Later, Ms. Allen joined family and friends, at dinner. There was her son, Nick, 17; ex-husband, Kale Browne; manager, Joan Hyler; the poet Michael Lally and his son, Flynn, and friends Christy Zea and Frosty Montgomery.

Ms. Allen said: 8220;People want to see a movie that casts a mature woman across from a mature man. They8217;re not matching Harrison with a 30-year-old.8221;

In a lull between courses, she did her best to answer a barrage of questions about the movie: Where was it shot? Los Angeles, mostly. Was the scene of a nuclear mushroom cloud made with government footage? Hotly debated.

Supping on porcini ravioli and sipping the house red, Ms. Allen conferred with Nick, a freshman at Bard, about his paper on Frederick Douglass.

After dessert, 10-year-old Flynn looked up from his chocolate cake and offered Ms. Allen an unsolicited review of the film. 8220;The funny thing about the movie is that you punch him and then you kiss him,8221; he said.

8220;Well, that8217;s love,8221; Ms.
Allen
said.
-WINTER MILLER