You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

A consistently underwhelming effort, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger follows several characters, including Naomi Watts’ Sally, Antonio Banderas’ Greg, and Anthony Hopkins’ Alfie, as they attempt to navigate the thorny landscape of relationships. Filmmaker Woody Allen has infused You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger with an almost aggressively low-key sensibility that ultimately prevents the viewer from wholeheartedly connecting with the characters, as the movie’s subdued atmosphere often ensures that the whole thing comes off as the cinematic equivalent of elevator music. And while the less-than-enthralling vibe is often alleviated by the uniformly likeable performances, there’s little doubt that the lack of stand-out sequences results in a loss of momentum that grows increasingly problematic as time progresses. (Having said that, there’s one interlude, a single-take scene in which a trio of characters engage in an argument, that’s as brilliantly conceived and thoroughly enthralling as anything within Allen’s rocky body of work.) It’s subsequently not surprising to note that the movie peters out in a rather demonstrable way as it nears its anticlimactic finish, which effectively cements You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger‘s place as just another in a long line of underwhelming misfires from Allen.

** out of ****