Whatevah
Written: Jun 24 '09 (Updated Jun 25 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: The actors are very entertaining. The script is literately written.
Cons: The same old Woody. Nothing ground-breaking.
The Bottom Line: Woody is one of the best scriptwriters in Hollywood. I would like to see him venture in a different territory.
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| lli_wright's Full Review: Whatever Works |
Woody Allen’s latest “Whatever Works” is a study in humanism. The main character Boris (Larry David) would disagree as he often does throughout and say it’s a study in free love. Now late in life, Woody himself is exercising freedom with a young wife and two children, trekking across Europe most notably France, making a movie a year. Boris could be Woody, a self-described genius in his senior years, spouting out theories and opinions about the Black President and religion. Controversial subjects that cause his neighborhood pals to brush him off as eccentric.
Woody seems purposeful in life as opposed to Boris who tries to commit suicide twice because he cannot find purpose. One day a 21 y.o. runaway, Melody (Evan Rachel Wood) crawls into his life. At that time he is divorced and cranky and alone. He takes her in temporarily, feeds her and within a year marries her. It is not so unusual, the May-December marriage, especially since Woody Allen is in one. Melody is a pretty Southern blond who adores the disabled Boris (from the suicide fall). She is perky, impressionable, happy and hangs on his every word. She is also from an extreme religious right family, whose members travel from Mississippi to NYC to find her. And when they do they are surprised at her marital status.
More cannot be written about the storyline but imagine you are in a small NYC playhouse and this movie unfolds live on the stage with a cast of literate but unexplainable characters. Whatever works is filmed like a stage play. The settings are interchangeable between NYC outdoor cafes and Boris’ loft apartment. The script is one of Woody’s crispest, sharpest, smartest and comedic to date. If you don’t laugh out loud, you will smile throughout as you watch the actors play funny and comical characters (Larry David, Evan Rachel wood, Patricia Clarkson, et al). But the most believable is Patricia Clarkson’s Marietta the monogamous repressed wife who finds her sexual and artist calling in a ménage a trios. The others are more caricature. And Allan repeats the behavior and personalities seen in previous movies. [especially the May-December romance, a theme he consistently returns to. Why?]
You always feel as if you are witnessing some phase or piece of Allen’s life when you watch his movie. The characters are fun to watch and listen to, but you leave with nothing that’s life transformational. We never quite know what motivates his characters. We get a glimpse but nothing that makes it emotionally moving. [In the Proposal, at least the Sandra Bullock character's had several motivations to make us care for her. She was orphaned at a young life and she was going to lose her visa. ]
I often wonder what if Woody did something totally different with a story. Could he adapt a script from a best selling novel? Could he be more experimental with the cinematography? Maybe next time.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Funny Movie
Viewing Method: Press Screening
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Duration
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Epinions.com ID:
lli_wright
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Location: Chicago, IL, US
Reviews written: 244
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
Working stiff who loves to give opinions to anybody who will listen.
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