I thought it was a roll in cliche, not hay.
"Here is the ice you ordered, Mr. Ismay." Titanic Captain E.J. Smith

I thought that scene was fantastic. Yeah, okay, maybe a little cliche, but I think the ferocity of the two actors sells it for me. And I don't mind the cliche much since it means I get to revel in all the imagery.

Agreed, Mehki_Girl. I had an affair with a married woman some 25 years ago. I was so smitten with her that I couldn't get her out of my head, and I certainly couldn't take my eyes off her if I were anywhere in her proximity. We had been "friends" (although I had a crush on her and would do anything to be in proximity to her), and we used to socialize with the same group of work people regularly. My married friend invited me, a single guy, to a charity banquet that her family had booked a table for. She had set me up with a VERY attractive single friend of hers to be my date for the evening.
It just happened to turn out that the night before the charity event was the first time that the married woman and I did "the horizontal mambo." Now, here we were, the next night, sitting across the table from each other, me with a very pretty date, and her with her husband, and I just couldn't take my eyes off her! Not for a second! I was afraid that I was being so obvious, yet I couldn't stop looking at her. I basically ignored my date for the evening. To this day, my heart still races when I think about that night. I never went out with my blind date partner again, and spent the next two years counting the hours until I could see my married paramour again - it was electric. I've been married for 17 years, but still miss those times.

Diane Lane was AWESOME in Unfaithful.
You can't fight in here! This is the War Room!

Yes, the way he positioned himself so he could look at her. I had an affair once. It was much like that, bored to tears until you can see the person or at least be in the same room. You feel like you are suffocating and can't concentrate on anything but seeing them again and hoping no one sees the sparks when they are in the room with you two. Very exciting. I feel nothing for the person anymore, but I'm very fond of those feelings and love scenes in movies that convey them. One case in point was the giddiness of Connie on the train after sleepiing with her lover for the first time in the movie, Unfaithful. Also the way Connie's stomach trembled when they had sex for the first time - very, very realistic and that nervous way I've felt when I'm with someone that I'm very attracted to at the beginning. Great, sexy scenes.
http://www.auplod.com/u/dalpuo430da.png

An excellent point: There is no way both Chris and Nola got back in the house without being noticed after their romp in the rain.

I'm late to the conversation, but I thought it was ridiculous. Not only is not very romantic to have hay sticking your backside while rain is dumping on top of your head, it's very, very messy! How did these two get back into the house without tracking mud and pieces of hay all over their clothes?

I agree with you about the rolling in the hay and also that the look when he gives her during the horse screen was smouldering hot. It's like the perfect display of her innocence colliding with his lustful want. Like everything about her to him is passionate.

I felt as though Woody Allen was trying too hard here.
Or not hard enough perhaps.

I completely agree with you! There were a lot of sexy scenes in this movie, but I found that one to be a bit ridiculous and more than a bit of a cliche. Sex in the pouring rain? I felt as though Woody Allen was trying too hard here.