Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Solidrariol
Am I Missing Something?
Isbel
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
oOoBarracuda
Larry David stars as the perfect "Woody Allen character", a term I dislike as I don't find Woody Allen to be attempting to inject himself in each of his movies as much as I understand him to simply be writing characteristics he knows about. It's a losing battle, I've learned, to try to convince those I know to join me in an effort to change the American lexicon so for the purpose of understanding I'll say there is no one better to play a "Woody Allen character" than Larry David. I'm a huge fan of the neurotic curmudgeon I first met in David's show Curb Your Enthusiasm and always thought he would be great in a Woody Allen film. Imagine my delight to learn he was already in one! In Whatever Works, David plays a self-described misanthrope with a wholly negative view of the human race and spends a majority of his time baffled that he has to live within it. Larry David stars alongside Evan Rachel Wood, and Patricia Clarkson as the women who enter his life and possibly change it. Whatever Works is perhaps the most hard-hitting illustration of Woody Allen's outlook on life. Woody pulls no punches in Whatever Works, he does what works for him and his artistic expression, examining life's unanswered questions all the while with a half- smile and comedic touch. Forty-three years after his directorial debut, Woody Allen is still questioning the purpose of life, not to provide an answer, but rather to be content with its perceived meaninglessness.Boris Yelnikoff (Larry David) walks with a limp under the strain of his Nobel prize worthy brain and the heavy ache of seeing the world's most infantile beings walk among him. In reality, the limp is a souvenir from a failed suicide attempt in which Boris flung himself through a window only to be saved by a canopy hanging below. Both his friends and the "inchworms" he teaches chess to know about Boris' deep contempt of the human race. A former professor of Quantum Mechanics at Columbia University, Boris is still distraught over losing the Nobel Prize that should have been his. One of his many existential crises led to Boris quitting his job at Columbia and divorcing his college sweetheart only to move into a rundown apartment and teach chess to children in the park as a means of income. There exists no bright side in the life of Boris, and as he constantly tells the audience: he is the only one that truly sees what's going on in the world. Boris' careful routine existence is thrown into chaos when he meets a simple-minded religious girl, Melody Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood) who recently ran away from her home in Mississippi to make a better life for herself in New York. Little did she know, Melody found the last person in the world that would encourage her of a better life to be found. Boris, a severe germophobe who insists on singing "Happy Birthday" to himself twice as he washes his hands to ensure peak cleanliness surprises everyone by allowing Melody to stay in his home while she saves money for an apartment. Boris, a naturally anti social recluse begins to not only enjoy Melody's company but appreciates once again having a hand to hold during his many existential panic attacks. In the most unlikely of circumstances, Boris and Melody marry. For a while, the marriage works for both of them, with Boris enjoying a sounding board for his many ideas regarding life, and Melody enjoying broadening her mind and pushing herself to speak in more than clichés. An unexpected outcome is the positive impact Melody is having on Boris, bringing him closer to actually enjoying aspects of the human race. Boris is written as someone who lives life in a way that convinces others that he doesn't need or want anyone close to him. Boris spends so much time asserting his dominance over the entire human race, in part, I believe, to keep people away from him. Boris obviously struggles with emotions and ultimately seems to be afraid of being a disappointment to anyone close to him. The most promising way to ensure you never let anyone down is to never let anyone close enough to be dissatisfied by you. A deeper character analysis of someone who seems to have no redeeming qualities reveals a broken man who has tried to fill the crevasses of his existence with false positives because he finds himself unable to rationalize the mysteries of life. Boris' "whatever works" motto of doing whatever one wants in life as long as they are not causing harm to others may be enough to get him through the day-to-day, but it is obviously not enough to keep him from waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. I've always appreciated the way Woody Allen explores the psyche of his characters. All the way back to Manhattan, we see Woody doing the same thing he is doing in Whatever Works; illustrating characters who shut themselves off from relationships before they ever have a chance to begin, then, self-sabotaging those relationships after they have a chance to start. There are shelves all over the world full of films that are happily romantic and only superficially question the motives of others in exchange for a happy ending. The reality of life, however, is that not everyone enjoys a happy ending and Woody Allen's consistent exploration of human emotion is something I will forever appreciate. We're all searching for what Boris found in his 1:00 a.m. viewings of Fred Astaire that he found to comfort himself out of panic attacks. We all wish to find a purpose for our lives, engaging enough to bring us happiness and allow us to forget that everything ends.
quridley
Woody Allen returns to the comic style he patented in the 1970s and it doesn't really work anymore. This feels like a cheaper, lazier version of his excellent excellent "Manhattan". Allen's wiser and angrier, but not funnier in his old age. His writing is off here: repetitive and juvenile. There are a few funny jokes and smart lines, but Allen hasn't evolved like you may have hoped he would have in 30 years. He still lusts after young girls, he still hates his life and he still thinks he's smarter than everyone. Now its more annoying than endearing, but at least he's still in on how obnoxious he is. Casting Larry David to play his lead character adds some warmth and comic timing that is sorely needed, but its not enough to make this work. But look out for a decent performance from the soon-to-be "Superman" Henry Cavill. Allen still can spot talent and he can make tiny, cheap movies in NYC better than most anyone. This is a footnote to his career though.
Gideon24
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.
tao902
One of forty films written and directed by the prolific Woody Allen. Boris Yellnikoff, played by Larry David, is a retired nuclear physicist who seems to be committed to a depressingly cynical view of the world. He constantly pontificates his views and philosophies to anyone within ear shot.A young, naïve woman who has run away from her parents in Mississippi enters his life, managing to persuade him to let her stay at his place until she establishes her independence in New York. He tries to shape her character with his observations on life and the unlikely duo end up marrying. The girl's parents, who have split up, eventually track her down and the film moves further into farcical situations.Fairly typical Woody Allen, amusing lines and scenarios but nothing new.
