Whatever Works (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
Woody Allen has always been one of my favorite directors. Sure, I haven't loved everything (recently, Cassandra's Dream, ugh). But his latest film, 'Whatever Works' is pretty decent; not one of his best, but recommendable - despite what a majority of the professional critics are saying. After romping us through London & Spain for his last few films, Woody brings us back to 'ole New York with a sly, dry, offbeat comedy about a cantankerous old misanthrope, & a naive, young girl who's run away from the south. The film opens on a Greenwich Village sidewalk with Boris Yellnikov (Larry David) 'breaking the 4th wall' (talking to us through the camera) to begin the narrative of this tale. It's funny because we're not expecting it, the company he's with don't get it, & what he says is startling.
Boris is a nasty old goat if there ever was one; telling us right away that he's 'not a likeable guy', that he's suicidal, & that this won't be a feel-good movie. Well thanks, Boris. Right away I was enjoying seeing & hearing Woody's own words put out onscreen. David stands in as Woody, of course. I also liked how Boris' declaration of this not being a feel-good movie would probably mean that it would be by the end. Moving on. Boris, a brilliant physicist, constantly refers to himself as one of the smartest people in the world, having almost been nominated for a Noble Prize. He takes the 1st 10 minutes of this movie to reiterate just how miserable he is, how there is no God, how the world shall end very soon, & how stupid everybody is. He has no patience for anything or anyone, especially little children (calling all people cretins & earthworms). I was initially taken aback (in a bad way) by his nastiness, but after a while I started to grin.
The main plot kicks in when, one day, he meets Melodie St. Anne Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood), an innocent simpleton from Mississippi who's landed in New York at his doorstep, looking for food & shelter. Despite his alarming responses to her & his hardened exoskeleton, Boris allows Melodie inside his home - and from there, she enters his life for good. A funny, repetitious motif used throughout the film includes Boris talking about her to his friends. He starts off by saying she's only a 5 out of 10. 10 minutes later (in the plot), he says, 'well, you know, she IS only a 7'. And by midway point of the movie ... they're married, of course. He's 62, she's 21. Their cultural backgrounds clash. But that doesn't matter. She's opened up his mind to bigger, brighter things. But so, too, has he narrowed her optimism about the world. Opposites attract, & then they meld. Things seem to be going fine until the separate arrivals in NY of Melodie's over-the-top mother, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson), & conservative father (Ed Begley Jr.) show up. No one gets along, chaos ensues, as well as unexpected romantic entanglements.
What makes 'WW' enjoyable, other than the setting, its string of effective one-liners, & broadly sketched characters, is what Woody does with them all. He takes something that feels familiar & perks it up, puts a twist on it, & deepens the characterizations of those initially broad portrayals. Each character always winds up with an 'arc'. 'Whatever Works' ... works ... for almost an hour. Everything involving Boris & Melodie is handled with great care, dry wit, cunning jokes, & the usual Woody Allen philosophies of life. But after the arrival of Melodie's mom (no dig at Patricia Clarkson's fine, eccentric performance), the screenplay changes & not for the better. Just as I was enjoying Boris' Henry Higgins-ish mentorship of Melodie ... Marietta walks in; thus, creating a flurry of mediocre subplots which last til the credits roll. Don't get me wrong, everything ends tidily, predictably, & somewhat satisfactorily. But it lost its edge somewhere in the middle.
Larry David, someone I'm not overly familiar with, really surprised me; shame that his character disappears near the end. His deadpan brand of humor works well, here. Evan Rachel Wood really impressed me as Woody's latest ingenue. The script is one of funniest I've heard (from Woody) in a while; even though its references feel a tad old (it was written in the 70's for Zero Mostel, of all people). I'm just a tad bummed that this film provides an uneven experience; shining when Larry David & Evan Rachel Wood are front & center. Overall, 'Whatever Works' is a decent, sporadically amusing Woody Allen morsel. It's one of Woody's funniest ventures, of late. And I liked Boris' final ideology: life is all about luck, the randomness of existence, & appreciating 'whatever works'.
Boris is a nasty old goat if there ever was one; telling us right away that he's 'not a likeable guy', that he's suicidal, & that this won't be a feel-good movie. Well thanks, Boris. Right away I was enjoying seeing & hearing Woody's own words put out onscreen. David stands in as Woody, of course. I also liked how Boris' declaration of this not being a feel-good movie would probably mean that it would be by the end. Moving on. Boris, a brilliant physicist, constantly refers to himself as one of the smartest people in the world, having almost been nominated for a Noble Prize. He takes the 1st 10 minutes of this movie to reiterate just how miserable he is, how there is no God, how the world shall end very soon, & how stupid everybody is. He has no patience for anything or anyone, especially little children (calling all people cretins & earthworms). I was initially taken aback (in a bad way) by his nastiness, but after a while I started to grin.
The main plot kicks in when, one day, he meets Melodie St. Anne Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood), an innocent simpleton from Mississippi who's landed in New York at his doorstep, looking for food & shelter. Despite his alarming responses to her & his hardened exoskeleton, Boris allows Melodie inside his home - and from there, she enters his life for good. A funny, repetitious motif used throughout the film includes Boris talking about her to his friends. He starts off by saying she's only a 5 out of 10. 10 minutes later (in the plot), he says, 'well, you know, she IS only a 7'. And by midway point of the movie ... they're married, of course. He's 62, she's 21. Their cultural backgrounds clash. But that doesn't matter. She's opened up his mind to bigger, brighter things. But so, too, has he narrowed her optimism about the world. Opposites attract, & then they meld. Things seem to be going fine until the separate arrivals in NY of Melodie's over-the-top mother, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson), & conservative father (Ed Begley Jr.) show up. No one gets along, chaos ensues, as well as unexpected romantic entanglements.
What makes 'WW' enjoyable, other than the setting, its string of effective one-liners, & broadly sketched characters, is what Woody does with them all. He takes something that feels familiar & perks it up, puts a twist on it, & deepens the characterizations of those initially broad portrayals. Each character always winds up with an 'arc'. 'Whatever Works' ... works ... for almost an hour. Everything involving Boris & Melodie is handled with great care, dry wit, cunning jokes, & the usual Woody Allen philosophies of life. But after the arrival of Melodie's mom (no dig at Patricia Clarkson's fine, eccentric performance), the screenplay changes & not for the better. Just as I was enjoying Boris' Henry Higgins-ish mentorship of Melodie ... Marietta walks in; thus, creating a flurry of mediocre subplots which last til the credits roll. Don't get me wrong, everything ends tidily, predictably, & somewhat satisfactorily. But it lost its edge somewhere in the middle.
Larry David, someone I'm not overly familiar with, really surprised me; shame that his character disappears near the end. His deadpan brand of humor works well, here. Evan Rachel Wood really impressed me as Woody's latest ingenue. The script is one of funniest I've heard (from Woody) in a while; even though its references feel a tad old (it was written in the 70's for Zero Mostel, of all people). I'm just a tad bummed that this film provides an uneven experience; shining when Larry David & Evan Rachel Wood are front & center. Overall, 'Whatever Works' is a decent, sporadically amusing Woody Allen morsel. It's one of Woody's funniest ventures, of late. And I liked Boris' final ideology: life is all about luck, the randomness of existence, & appreciating 'whatever works'.