Everyone Says I Love You (1996)

I really liked this film! They do not make musicals any more in those old fashion ways any more. And what a cast of actors! All of them were fantastic, but somehow Alan Alda and Woody Alen stick out! How could they not make people like Alan Alda more often? I mean the little greys. They clone, right? Perfect actors like Alan Alda could not be conceived in the normal way. I figure he is cloned ;) Dialogues are fantastic so are the music pieces. All in all if you want to put a smile on your face, and take a trip in a world where most of people never venture, make sure you see this film.

Woody Allen directing a musical and having stars who you wouldn't associate as singers initially could cause alarm bells, but I found Everyone Says I Love You much better than expected if not among Allen's best(a long way from his worst though). The film looks great with skilled photography and a great use of three of the world's most beautiful cities, New York in springtime looks enchanting here and Venice and Paris look breath-taking too. The songs are very pleasant and work really well within the film, Looking at You stood out as my personal favourite, not surprising seeing as it is Cole Porter. The production numbers and choreography are neither overblown or amateurish, not quite classic musical standard and a little silly at times but really enjoyable stuff. Highlights were the dancing ghosts in the funeral scene, the dancing number on the banks of the Seine and the Marx Brothers-like ending, it is not everyday when you see Goldie Hawn levitating either. The dialogue is toned down from what you usually expect from Woody Allen, not as blunt or as savage(as seen in Deconstructing Harry, which I consider Allen's last masterpiece), but it is still as sparkling and witty. The story is very warm and charming while showing a good amount of interesting insight on relationships, remarkably also it could be seen as one of Allen's most accessible. There are a few neurotic characters, particularly Allen's and Edward Norton's, but the characters mostly are quite likable compared to other Allen films(not that that is a bad thing). The singing is not amazing(wasn't particularly impressed by Julia Roberts or the dubbed singer for Drew Barrymore) but very little of it is bad either, Alan Alda has the best singing of the cast which added to Looking at You being a highlight. The performances are great, though Natalie Portman and Billy Crudup are under-used. Allen directs most assuredly and his performance comes off well. Goldie Hawn is good too and while he is a rather awkward dancer Ed Norton sports a not bad singing voice, but the best performances come from Alan Alda, Natasha Lyonne and a hilarious Tim Roth(who could have had more to do). Overall, a different film from Allen and while not one of his best, considering how films having directors who try to do something different generally have very mixed results, Everyone Says I Love You came off surprisingly excellently. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Ed Norton, Barrymore, Roberts, Hawn, Alda, Portman... what's not to love? Well the boring, plodding, banal and mind numbingly worked story line that is as intricate as a cereal box. How can anyone like this? Did they get awards because of the cast? This proves to me that pretentious nits make a good market for an inane movie a college student could have composed. It reminds me of those self-indulgent "I am melancholy pay attention to my deep thoughts" of the 70s genre, which is how old you have to be to find this mildly entertaining. Woody Allen should just give it up. Then again, people will pretend he has talent because they are suppose to. Kind of like people paid a zillion dollars a ticket to see washed up Streisand in concert.

A fragmented modern-day family in New York City--filled with siblings and step-siblings, step-parents and in-laws--fall in and out of love to the tunes of the 1940s. Woody Allen wrote and directed this bursting-into-song celebration of valentines and vitriol; he also co-stars as the ex-husband of Goldie Hawn who hasn't been able to find a decent woman since their divorce. His daughter has access to a beautiful woman's psychiatric sessions (straight out of "Another Woman") and coaches her father to woo the girl with his inside-knowledge. Meanwhile, two teenage girls have a crush on the same boy (reminiscent of "Hannah and Her Sisters") and Drew Barrymore's society sweetheart is thinking of dumping her lovestruck fiancé for an ex-convict whom everyone thinks has gone straight. The songs are not integrated into the mix smoothly, and the actors Allen has cast are not great singers (including himself). Still, there are some lovely moments and a few stray funny lines, but the cast members don't match up with their characters--and the dialogue is so static and vacuous it leaves everyone stranded, shrugging and nodding to one another instead of actually communicating. ** from ****