| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ChocolateLady |
Posted - 07/22/2012 : 12:17:54
There's a good reason why the latest Woody Allen film hasn't gotten such high ratings on IMDb. It just isn't all that good. Despite flashes of brilliance and LOL moments that will bring tears to your eyes, the curious mixture of absurd and reasonable reality with what seems a touch of magic that's not clearly defined as such, means the viewers are confused. Add that to the far too many plot lines and one wonders if Woody didn't just reach into his idea drawer, grab a handful at random so he could tape them together to arrive at a script. What could have been a fun ride ends up being a terribly bumpy one that, despite some enjoyment, ends up being painful.
But I think Woody doesn't really care if the public appreciates it or not. Much like the character that Woody plays in the film, it would only just be further proof that he's "ahead of his time". |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| randall |
Posted - 01/21/2013 : 21:44:15
P.S. Sorry, Baffy & Chocky, I searched for this thread in vain before I posted my own. The comma must have thrown me. |
| randall |
Posted - 01/21/2013 : 21:42:52
Woody Allen's love letter to Rome isn't as strong as MIDNIGHT IN PARIS because there isn't a single arching through-story; it's a buncha vignettes. But you get to watch a great cinematic eye fall in love with yet another city...in fact, the Eternal one.
Every outdoors shot looks like it was pulled at Magic Hour. [Maybe they can do this digitally by now, but damn if you don't instinctively get down on your knees and thank god for Kodachrome.]
The scenario is typical Woodman...this time, he's even present on camera. The actors do wonderful jobs [Alec Baldwin stands out], but let's face it, this is only another European travelogue. I'm not complaining, I had a great time, if not as transcendent an experience as was PARIS. But I was thrilled to learn that Woody's next picture will be set back in the US, because I want to see him work once again in an atmosphere which doesn't overwhelm him. That leaves so much more room for the characters. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 09/17/2012 : 13:02:06
SOME TINY SPOILERS TOWARDS THE END
imho, this is one of Woody's funniest, most ironic, and ironically, most serious films. OK, it's not totally original to examine aspects of fame & celebrity, or to use surrealistic character devices to contrast reality and expectation. But his quirky take is meant for thinking adults willing to reach the screen halfway to feel the full impact.
I saw the film in a sophisticated small-town UK outskirt. Like me, people found much to laugh at -- out loud laughing, unlike some of the wry smiling that's sadly characterized too much of Woody's more recent output.
I do question his quasi-attempt to turn Jesse Eisenberg into the indecisive young Woody. But Eisenberg brings enough of himself to make it work. More successful is Woody's own portrayal of his aging self -- this time proving his escape from the previous public analyses of how a slight, un-sexy man deals with his normal libidinal urges. Instead, his dilemma focuses on his ability to lather the assessment of reality with the whipped cream of comedy.
His theme is explored in the kind of vignette perfected by Boccaccio's Decameron. Easy comparisons with Fellini are well-meant but miss the point. The inter-connecting tales rely on thematic threads instead of a join-the-dots approach. So those trying to understand why these short tales sit cheek by jowl need to look way beyond individual narratives and relate each to the whole.
That the result also yields some enlightenment about Woody's own artistic development is a big bonus. And the humor really turns up the wattage.
I've mentioned before how - ever since his failed partnerships with Louise Lasser, Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow - his treatment of women has been constrained.
But lately he's been working on that, and here he finds a wonderful foil in Judy Davis. She knows how to squeeze every drop of comedy from the role of straight-woman, and - a big bonus - embue her character of supportive, intelligent wife with warmth and humanity.
In character contrast - though certainly not in any way demeaning her acting ability - is Ellen Page's spot-on portrayal of how an ambitious person relies on consuming ego disguised as libido. Even though you can easily see how it will end, Page makes the journey delightful.
What's harder to see is why Eisenberg's character would act out his attraction, be so completely duped, and fuck up the good thing he has going.
Even the less prominent story of the farcical case of mistaken identity is no socio-cultural depiction of what drives women to a life of prostitution. Instead, and in the entirely capable hands of Penelope Cruz, it becomes a comic view of class pretentiousness. That it has the most fairy-tale ending of all the vignettes is just something we have to accept in context.
It speaks to the same storytelling conceit as Match Point, wherein Woody asks us to contemplate why it's wise to stop picking away at some of life's anomalies and just get on with it. Which, of course, makes all the hilarious references to psychiatry in this film all the funnier.
There are two further vignettes, each to do with the fickleness of fame and the elusive cult of celebrity. Both are questions which have dogged Woody's whole career. It speaks to his fundamental humanity that he can step back from himself to find such humor through his own angst.
For each of these the protagonist must make and/or accept a choice. The opera sequence is hilarious in concept, nearly matched by its execution, and providing Woody's character with his most telling moments of personal growth.
The other deals with that most modern social phenomenon: being famous for being famous. It's a tour de force for Oscar-winning Italian comic actor Roberto Begnini.
And, finally, the anomalous character/time displacement of what turns out to be Eisenberg's present younger self. He's personified by Alec Baldwin who cannot fail to deliver the perfect combo of comedy and gravity. There's not a pretentious moment. In terms of the logic - and even the defiance of logic - in the way that character is accepted by only some of the actors, only serves Woody's main theme of the nature of reality. This character IS the one most relevant to Fellini, who was a genius at making memory palpable.
This is an important film and I urge you to see it.
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