In
his first film made on US shores in five years, Woody Allen dusts off an
old script he wrote in the 1970’s to give us Whatever Works. Employing
Larry David as his latest avatar, Allen delivers a diatribe on
everything from religion to politics to sex with the single-minded
fervor of someone whose pessimistic POV has never been challenged by a
single opposing voice. In Whatever Works, not only is there no rebuttal
to the outlandish declarations of Boris Yellnikoff, a man so smart he
nearly won a Nobel Prize, he informs us, but by the film’s end, this
disagreeable chap will not only have gotten the girl, but he’ll
magically change the lives of everyone he comes in contact with, like a
grouchy, Bizarro World Pollyanna.
As written by Allen, Boris’
outspoken comments on life and dire prognostications are often amusing,
but Larry David’s whiplash sharp delivery becomes almost the entire
point of seeing Whatever Works. The premise of the film is incredibly
slight and the center of it all; Boris gives shelter to Melody {Evan
Rachel Wood}, a beautiful Southern teenage runaway who falls head
over heels for this balding, middle-aged misanthrope with no prospects
of wealth or even decent manners, is patent geriatric male fantasy.
Going even further, before the end credits roll, Boris will have had not
just one, but three gorgeous women panting after him for no apparent
reason. If you can suspend your disbelief to go with that absurd
notion, the rest of the film is your oyster. The speed with which
sweet, dumb Melody parrots Boris’ negativity is blinding; becoming an
atheist overnight, because as is inferred throughout the film, believing
in any God means you’re stupid. Next, we meet Melody’s mother, another
runaway, all Southern Christian values and not an original thought in
her head until Boris and his progressive friends unleash the sexual
deviant within. Out come the black clothes and threesomes as the lady
discovers her bohemian side. Melody’s father tracks them down and
finally realises his entire life has been a lie until he gets to the big
city. For all Melody’s initial devotion to Boris, the inevitable occurs
and she meets someone born near about the same decade, who doesn’t
derogatorily refer to her as a “microbe”. The idea that none of the
Southern Christians had any cultural awareness or minds of their own
until they met Boris could be offensive if it wasn’t so cartoonish.
Even the laudable talents of the always-delightful Patricia Clarkson and
Ed Begley, Jr. playing it very broad as Melody’s parents, can’t dissolve
the sour taste of finger-pointing at the dumb Christian red staters.
While the early scenes of Boris mouthing off about any and everything he
sees wrong in the world are a hoot, there’s never any change or growth
in the character and it’s hard to understand how people can stand to be
in the same room with him for very long, much less desire of their own
free will to be married to the curmudgeon. Because we’ve seen Boris’
solution to a dwindling relationship previously, we’re not entirely sure
if he actually had feelings for his teenaged wife, or his actions are
just a habit; but once Boris is up and around, he’s back to his old
crabby self, pursued once more by another attractive young lady.
Much will be made of Woody
Allen’s cinematic return of to the streets on Manhattan. This time the
locations shift downtown to Caffe Vivaldi in Greenwich Village, Federal
Plaza near City Hall, Chinatown, and the ninety-nine year old Yonah
Schimmel knishery. Placed against the New York locales, the breezy
pacing of Whatever Works does feel like a return of sorts to the lighter
fare of Allen’s earlier films, but the overall piece feels tired,
overworked and hollow, despite a great supporting cast clearly chuffed
to be in a Woody Allen movie giving it their all. Powered by Larry
David as his new and possibly most successful mouthpiece, Whatever Works
seems less a Woody Allen film than a very special episode of Curb Your
Enthusiasm with Allen as the guest director.
~ The Lady Miz Diva
June 18th, 2009
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