Café Society (2016)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
DOP: Vittorio Storaro
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carrell

In the 1930s, a Bronx native moves to LA and falls in love with a young woman who is seeing a married man.

Woody Allen is still managing to do a film a year and this one is his latest starring Jesse Eisenberg in the Woody Allen role, who has a deer in the headlights quality. Unlike his latest few films, it is not set in Europe but in 1930s America with the age-old West Coast versus East Coast routine we're so familiar from Woody Allen films like Annie Hall. It does have a mish-mash feel to it but generates more than enough laughs to make it a pretty good watch.

Eisenberg has been in a Woody Allen movie before and it is the first outing for Kristen Stewart. Emma Stone had been starring in the last few. Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine have been the best among the latest Woody Allen films. Café Society is a good watch without being nearly as good as those two.

Rating: 3/5

Whatever Works (2009)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer:    Woody Allen
Cast:       Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Henry Cavill

A middle-aged, misanthropic divorcee from New-York city surprisingly enters a fulfilling, Pygmalion-type relationship with a much younger, unsophisticated southern girl. He is a physicist who almost won a Nobel prize while she is the stereotypical blonde and dumb catholic bombshell from mid-west. 

Larry David in a Woody Allen film should be quite something right? I cannot really tell whether it is more of the typical Larry David from Curbs or is him acting as the alter-ego for Woody Allen in this film. Maybe both of them are one and the same, sharing a similar world-view and neurosis only varying in the intensity of it.  I am a fan of both of them and Seinfeld is among my favorite television shows with Curbs falling not far behind. In Seinfeld we had George Costanza as Larry's alter-ego while in Curbs he plays himself in a largely improvised fashion. The screenplay for Whatever Works was written by Allen in the 70s originally for Zero Mostel and with the actor's death the project was shelved. Allen dusted off his old script when Hollywood was facing the Writer's strike and cast Larry David who was initially a bit apprehensive since he had done largely improvisational style work. 

It is essentially another version of 'Magic in the Moonlight' or rather vice versa to make chronological sense. Both of them have protagonists with a very pessimistic but realistic outlook to life. Their first relationship shown in the films were with partners that made all the logical sense. Both of them then gets smitten by someone who is just the exact opposite of themselves and thus being a totally illogical match. Woody Allen is trying to emphasize the fact that when it comes to love, luck and pure chance plays a bigger role compared to logic. As Boris (Larry David) puts it, since we live in an indifferent world without any purpose to our lives, try to get whatever joy you can derive out of it and choose whatever works. 

Overall it is a good watch without being anything more than that. Some of the characters are intentionally cartoonish and maybe the script being from the 70s contributed to it in terms of the portrayal of both red-neck as well liberal characters. It marked a return to New-York for Woody Allen after making four films in Europe. The way he shot New-York is more like Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' style rather than his own characteristic 'Annie Hall' like look. Boris breaks the fourth wall quite a number of times and there are plenty of jokes that you might miss if you don't pay attention (Abyss one for eg). If you are fan of Woody Allen or Larry David, then you will certainly enjoy it as long as expectations are a bit toned down.

Rating: 3/5

                                                                    

To Rome with Love (2012)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer:    Woody Allen
Cast:       Woody Allen, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz, Roberto Bengini, Greta Gerwig, Judy Davis

The lives of some visitors and residents of Rome and the romances, adventures and predicaments they get into. There are four story lines with two of them involving predominantly English speaking cast and another two involving solely Italian speaking characters.

Vicky Christina Barcelona was set in Spain, it is kind of obvious where 'Midnight in Paris' was set in and with 'To Rome With Love' it seemed as if Woody Allen is continuing his European sojourn. 'Midnight In Paris' is his best output from recent times and could very well be put along with his all time best works in a career that has spanned about forty five years as we speak.  Out of the three films listed, his ode to the Eternal City Rome, is definitely the weakest. I found the two English speaking stories to be really good and funny whereas the Italian speaking ones were really boring with Woody Allen going for a slap-stick approach. It was also a bit disconcerting to see Woody Allen play play a bit-part role in an ensemble cast film because his acting style doesn't lend itself well when he is not there in the film throughout. Alec Baldwin's character is used in a fly-in-the-wall fashion with the characters in that story-line talking to him in what can be called a not quite breaking the fourth wall method. This story strand is the most interesting out of the lot with all the pseudo-intellectual talk and excellent performances from Eisenberg and Ellen Page. Getting to be a celebrity or presence of a celebrity is common to all story-lines.

Overall it is decent enough watch without being all that good. Towards the end it kind of drags it out in all the four individual stories and the film overstays its welcome. If you want to watch just a great film from recent times set in Rome, then I would recommend Paolo Sorrentino's 'La Grande Belezza'.

Rating: 2.5/5

                                                                      

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer:    Woody Allen
Cast:       Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Marcia Gay Harden

A romantic comedy about an Englishman (Colin Firth), a magician by profession and a rationalist, brought in to help unmask a possible swindle where a young American lady(Emma Stone) is masquerading as a medium. Personal and professional complications ensue as they fall for each other.

Woody Allen's career is undergoing a renaissance off late which began with the excellent 'Midnight in Paris'. I haven't seen 'To Rome with Love' and his next one after that, Blue Jasmine, was also very good. Magic in the Moonlight got some very mixed reviews but I quite enjoyed watching it. It is a feel good story but the good thing about is that it doesn't have any pretensions of it being anything more than that. The script will remind you of theatrical plays and the language is very much upper class English gentlemanly. The twist in it can be very easily guessed from the beginning itself but that is alright since they don't actually play it up. Under the veneer of being a light romantic comedy, the existential questions that it poses regarding human happiness, rational pessimism and irrational optimism are very interesting. I think people are just not taken to it because the script can seem to be a very lazy one with very unnatural conversations. I didn't mind that since it is done in a very self-aware manner.

Overall it is a good watch and will be pleasantly surprised if you go in with very low expectations because of the negative reviews that it got. It is interesting that Woody Allen's next film is titled 'Irrational Man', which looks like a complement to this film. Emma Stone is gonna star in that along with Joaquin Phoenix and should make it very interesting. I guess it won't be released in India with Woody Allen not willing to include that obnoxious 'Smoking is Dangerous' ad that is mandatory here if the film involves scenes with cigarette smoking. Good on him for taking that stand.

Rating: 3.5/5

                                                                 

Blue Jasmine (2013)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer:    Woody Allen
Cast:       Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Sally Hawkins

Cate Blanchett plays Jeanette/Jasmin, a New-York socialite who has fallen into hard times after her husband's Ponzi scheme was exposed. She moves in with her not so well-off sister in San-Fransisco.

We are shown flashes of her rich life through flashbacks and having gone a bit cuckoo in her head, she doesn't seem to have learned anything and a normal director or film would have her transition herself over the course of the film. Such things never happen and she is back to square one at the end of the film. Plot is contrived especially towards the end but Cate Blanchett's performance is amazing and makes the film more than decent.

Rating: 3.5/5

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer:   Woody Allen
Cast:      Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Penelope Cruz
Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his  ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to reenter the picture.

Its another little gem of a film from Woody Allen who is now making films in Europe, where he finds money for it. Good performances from the excellent cast. The ending seemed a little too contrived though.

Rating: 3.5/5

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer:    Woody Allen
Cast:      Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Adrien Brody, Michael Sheen, Marion Cotillard
A romantic comedy about a family travelling to the French Capital Paris for business. The party includes a young engaged couple forced to confront the illusion that a life different from their own is better.

Owen Wilson plays a character reminiscent of so many characters played by Woody Allen himself in his previous films and he manages to pull it off without being cringe worthy. The whole atmosphere of the film is retro which is in suit with its plot. A very good romantic comedy of a different philosophical kind.

Rating: 4.5/5

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Director: Woody Allen
Writer:    Woody Allen
Cast:      Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Alan Alda
The film has two story lines with the first one about an opthamologist who is threatened by his mistress to reveal their affair to his wife and the second one in which Woody Allen plays a married documentary film maker who is infatuated by another woman. The first story is of tragic nature and the second one is black humor. As is usual with Woody Allen films, there is plenty of philosophy involved and its a very mature film and the only draw back of the film is a very exaggerated Woody Allenish character of himself in some scenes.

Rating: 4.5/5

Annie Hall (1977)

Director: Woody Allen
Writers:  Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman
Cast:      Woody Allen, Diane Keaton
Woody Allen plays a neurotic New York comedian Alvy Singer falls in love with the ditsy Annie Hall.

Its a great romantic comedy just like Manhattan and the cameo from Christopher Walken is superb.

Rating: 5/5

Manhattan (1979)

Director: Woody Allen
Writers:  Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman
Cast:      Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway
Woody Allen plays a divorced New Yorker who is currently dating a high schooler brings himself to look for love in the mistress of his best friend instead.

'Annie Hall' was the only Woody Allen film I have seen before this and so far both his films have been great with great wit and intelligence. Need to get into his other films soon.

Rating: 5/5