Woody Allen: The '00s
Small Time Crooks
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
Hollywood Ending (May 2/02)
Woody Allen once said that the ideal length for a comedy is around 90 minutes. Given that his latest movie, Hollywood Ending, purports to be a comedy and in fact runs close to 110 minutes, it's easy enough to wonder why he's begun to disobey his own rule. The movie - which stars Allen as a filmmaker who is stricken with a case of psychosomatic blindness on the eve of a pivotal shoot - is undoubtedly an improvement over last's year's mediocre The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, yet one ultimately can't help but wonder if the strain of making a movie a year has finally gotten to the reclusive director. That's not to say Hollywood Ending is awful - it's still far better than a lot of other movies that have been released thus far this year - and there are undoubtedly a few things worth recommending about the film (ie Treat Williams' stellar turn as a studio head). The inclusion of several head-scratchingly needless elements - ie a subplot revolving around Val's strained relationship with his rebellious son - effectively compounds the film's various problems, and it seems obvious that an unsentimental editor probably should have been hired to judiciously take out unnecessary sequences and trim down the rest. In the final analysis,
Hollywood Ending doesn't really offer any good reason for plunking down over $10 when you could just as easily rent something like Manhattan or Annie Hall (and it's cheaper, too).
out of
Anything Else
Melinda and Melinda (March 15/05)
Unlike the majority of Woody Allen's recent efforts, the failure of Melinda and Melinda can't be attributed to an outwardly obvious source. The film is well made and well acted, and Allen seems content to just let his characters talk - something he's been reluctant to do as of late. Yet the movie never quite becomes anything more than a mildly engaging comedy/drama, primarily because none of this is terribly interesting (which is the bottom line, really). The story opens with four friends (including one played by the endlessly entertaining Wallace Shawn) debating the merits of comedy versus drama, a conversation that kicks off dual storylines involving one shared character - Melinda (Radha Mitchell). In one, she's a tragic figure who's endured a heaping bowl of personal misfortune; in the other, she's undergone some of the same events, but the story plays out in a much more light-hearted way. While Melinda and Melinda is nowhere near the worst that Allen has to offer - that'd probably be Curse of the Jade Scorpion - it's still a far cry from the sort of flicks the filmmaker used to crank out on a regular basis. Allen's last movie, Anything Else, seemed to indicate that he was eschewing the plot-heavy vibe that's dominated his work as of late, but Melinda and Melinda veers off too heavily in the other direction. Completely devoid of anything resembling a storyline, Melinda and Melinda runs out of steam almost immediately - a situation exacerbated by the lack of compelling characters. This is despite a surfeit of extremely capable actors in the film's various roles, starting with Mitchell (an Allen neophyte). Best known for her work in movies like Phone Booth and Man on Fire, Mitchell does a nice job of differentiating between the two Melindas - turning each of them into unique, distinct characters. Mitchell is so good, in fact, that it's fairly disappointing that Allen doesn't allow either of her characters to become more than a typically verbose Allen heroine (she's just not given anything to do). The eclectic supporting cast keeps things interesting for a little while - Will Ferrell is in a Woody Allen movie, for crying out loud - but the novelty soon wears off, and we're left with nothing more than an unusually dull Allen flick.
out of
Match Point
Scoop
Cassandra's Dream
Click here for review.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (August 14/08)
There's little doubt that Vicky Cristina Barcelona marks another step on the road back to relevance for filmmaker Woody Allen, as the movie - though no great shakes in terms of plot or character development - boasts several engaging performances and dialogue that's as effortlessly authentic as one might've anticipated. The thin and admittedly far-from-fresh storyline - which follows American friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) as they embark on a Spanish vacation and subsequently fall for a charismatic painter (Javier Bardem's Juan Antonio) - essentially serves as a springboard for a series of low-key, conversation-driven sequences, with the film's comfortable rhythm only heightened by the cast's uniformly strong work (Bardem's expectedly compelling turn is undoubtedly matched by relative newcomer Hall). The movie's momentum does take a hit following Penelope Cruz's arrival at around the one-hour mark, however, as the actress - playing Juan Antonio's volatile ex-wife - offers up a fiery performance that sort of feels at odds with the exceedingly laid-back atmosphere. Still, this is surely a minor complaint for a breezy effort that generally feels like classic Allen - with the predictably melancholy conclusion certainly cementing this vibe.
out of
Whatever Works (June 24/09)
Woody Allen's long-awaited return to New York, Whatever Works boasts a plotless atmosphere that's initially easy enough to overlook thanks primarily to star Larry David's thoroughly engrossing work as the central character - yet it's just as clear that the movie does begin to run out of steam somewhere around its midsection (with the inclusion of several downright pointless third-act interludes only exacerbating this feeling). The movie follows grouchy curmudgeon Boris Yellnikoff (David) as he meets (and eventually marries) a sweet Southern girl (Evan Rachel Wood's Melodie), with the bulk of the proceedings generally detailing the specifics of their oddball union and its effect on their friends and family. There's little doubt that Whatever Works, at the outset, comes off as one of the more promising Allen comedies in recent memory, as the film features an exceedingly amiable vibe that's perpetuated by the efforts of the various actors - with David's surprisingly strong performance at the forefront of a uniformly stellar cast (which includes Michael McKean, Patricia Clarkson, and Ed Begley, Jr). Though essentially playing a mean-spirited riff on his Curb Your Enthusiasm persona, David effectively transforms Boris into a figure worthy of the viewer's sympathy - which is, given his relentlessly misanthropic actions and behavior, is certainly no small feat. It's consequently not surprising to note that the movie demonstrably suffers whenever Boris is off screen, with the increased emphasis on supporting characters in the film's second half ensuring that one's interest slowly but surely dwindles. The inclusion of several head-scratchingly needless interludes - ie Begley, Jr's tedious encounter with a gay man at a bar - within its home stretch cements Whatever Works' place as a sporadically watchable yet hopelessly uneven piece of work, and - given the strength of such recent endeavors as Cassandra's Dream and Vicky Cristina Barcelona - it would appear that Allen is better off working overseas.
