Whatever Works (2009)

There's something endearing about Larry David, as there was about the young Woody Allen. OK, we get the elitist hatred for anyone who isn't Woody. I suppose we can only write about things we know. He knows a certain version of New York, his self-hatred, his hatred for conservatives, and the Marx Brothers.As for story line, this one is riddled with clichés. Southerners come to New York, and find out that their inner bohemian has been waiting to come out. I would have found it more interesting if they developed a certain tolerance for New York types, but ultimately rediscovered their conviction for the things they have always believed.Evan Rachel Wood is cute in this, Larry David is himself, which is lovable, and Clarkson and Begley deliver excellent performances. The time line of how things work out is fine, and to me, the idea that we may find unconventional scenarios actually work for us, is also fine and true. Allen does show that pessimism is unappealing, and that perhaps he is jealous of the sunny optimism of Southerners and others like them. But ultimately he makes all the characters embrace his worldview. So he doesn't really take chances.

Woody Allen goes the "romantic comedy for people who hate romantic comedies" route with 2009's Whatever Works, a quirky and challenging comedy that provides solid entertainment, thanks to an extremely likable leading character who is absolutely not written that way and some interesting supporting characters who provide constant surprises.Writer/comedian Larry David gets a shot at leading man status as Boris, the original grumpy old man, a former physicist and intellectual, who hates everyone and everything, angry at the world, and determined to inhabit it by himself...think Ebeneezer Scrooge without the money. Boris finds his life changed by Melody (Evan Rachel Wood), a runaway from Mississippi who Boris takes in and what begins as a Pygmalion kind of relationship actually morphs into a marriage. Things get stickier with the arrival of Melody's mother (Patricia Clarkson), a contemporary reincarnation of Blanche DuBois, who tries to break up her daughter's marriage and discovers a new person inside of herself in the process.As always, the real star of this film is the Woodmeister's script, which is angry and no-holds barred, offering unpopular opinions on every aspect of pop culture and politics that you can imagine, but also offers a relationship at the center of the storm that is just really hard to swallow...Melody's attraction to Boris is a mystery because other than a razor sharp mind, Boris has no redeeming qualities and actually marrying the man almost threw me off the film altogether. I was also troubled by the character of Melody herself...the character appears to be a total hayseed when we first meet her, but she soaks up everything Boris teachers her and remembers every single word that he ever taught her, even if she doesn't always remember what it means.We've seen a lot of actors channel Woody over the years and some worked better than others (John Cusack in Bullets Over Broadway and Kenneth Branaugh in Celebrity were standouts), but no one did it better than Larry David does here...David is comfortable with this unappealing character and his performance alone makes this film worth investing in. He especially seems to enjoy when Woody allows him to break the fourth wall and talk to directly to the camera, a technique which is not groundbreaking but leave it to Woody to take it to another level and let us all in on the joke. Wood is a talented actress but the inconsistencies in her character made it difficult to invest in her performance, but I loved Patricia Clarkson as her mother, a character who goes through an entertaining transformation, another staple of Woody's writing, one character who goes through a significant change and Clarkson appears to be having a ball.Woody's attention to production values is flawless as always...special nod to the set designer (Boris' apartment is awesome) and cinematographer Harris Savides photographs Woody's beloved New York with loving care and of course the music is wonderful, have always loved Woody's ear for music, but this movie is worth checking out for Woody's challenging script and direction and for his choice of a very unconventional leading man that pays off in spades.

I feel like i have mixed feelings about this film. It's not quite what i expected. I was expecting a comedy but i just didn't find it funny at all. Now i haven't watched Curb Your Enthusiasm or Seinfield so maybe if you like those shows you would find some humour in this film? I just found it to be a bit depressing and slightly awkward to watch. Don't get me wrong i didn't dislike it, i just probably didn't get the point of it. The biggest positive of this film for me was Rachel Evan Wood, I think this is the most likable character i have ever seen her play, she was adorable and very beautiful. I couldn't suspend my belief enough to find it believable that she would fall for Larry David... I thought everyone did a good job acting wise but I felt quite awkward every time Larry David talked to the audience watching the film, it felt quite forced and i think it was meant to be more natural. Even though i appear to have more negatives than positives about this film, I still found it to be very watchable. If you like very dry humour then you will probably enjoy this film.

Woody Allen is back to doing what he is famous for - clever introspective comedy - and he still does it well. He detoured into making crime-dramas, three of them - Matchpoint, Scoop and Cassandra's Dream. All of these were good, and one, Matchpoint, was brilliant. Then he made a pretentious drama, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which wasn't good (but people seemed to like it just the same).Whatever Works sees him back to comedy, and back to his beloved New York (the previous four were all set in Europe). With the setting comes the standard Woody Allen neuroses, paranoia, depression and general philosophical musings that have been a hallmark of his films. The surprise is, for once he doesn't play the neurotic, paranoid, depressed lead character. No, this time Woody Allen stays behind the camera, and Larry David, of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, takes the part.Larry David does a great job in the role. He was born to play the curmudgeon, and play the curmudgeon he does, to the limit. It can wear a bit thin at times, but mostly he is screamingly funny. Supporting cast are great too. Evan Rachel Wood is convincing as the dumb innocent Southern belle, and Ed Begley jr and Patricia Clarkson are solid as her parents.Plot is good. Maybe a bit underdeveloped - some things happen too quickly and some characters seem too flexible - and some things seem a bit trite, but it works in the end. The dialogue, however, is great. Almost as good as Allen in his heyday of the late-70s and 80s. Biting, caustic, clever.A very funny movie.