Friday, April 3, 2009

Whatever Works: Second Reaction

From Alex Billington:
It is his standard New York talky, but actually one of his best films in recent years...

Out of some of Allen's most recent films, including Vicky Cristina Barcelona, this has been my favorite, for reasons I can't really describe. Maybe it was just a pure fascination with Larry David's character, who is one of those kind of guys that you feel bad for, even though he is kind of an asshole, or at least overly rude and racist, most of the time. I also just enjoyed how self-aware the film was, with David talking to the audience multiple times, and the way it's a retrospective piece on life in this world and dysfunctional relationships, not a deep analysis on how perfect love can be (or how completely un-perfect it can be, sometimes).

Even if you're not the biggest Woody Allen fan (or even if you are), Whatever Works is definitely worth seeing, whenever it comes to theaters. Writing a character for and casting Larry David was one of the best choices Allen has made in recent years. And with the right amount of positive buzz, this might end up becoming a bigger hit than his last few films. I will certainly say that it deserves to be one!