Film Review: Whatever Works

"Whatever Works" ** 1\2 (out of ****)

Woody Allen's latest comedy marks two important milestones. "What-ever Works" is Allen's 40th feature film and it marks 40 years since Allen directed his first comedy, "Take the Money & Run" (1969), which to this day has remained my favorite of his films.

I consider Woody Allen to be the greatest American comedy filmmaker since Charlie Chaplin. Take out the "comedy filmmaker" part and Allen is, perhaps, my favorite director working today.

But "Whatever Works" is a sad example of a bad film by a great director. Nearly every great filmmaker; Ingmar Bergman, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Alfred Hitchcock, Akiria Kurosawa and Stanley Kurbrick have all directed at least one film I didn't like. Each man is a great talent. They have all contributed to the artistic merits of cinema and have advanced it in some way. But even great men sometimes strike out.

I looked forward to watching "Whatever Works". Partly because of my admiration for Allen but also because I am a fan of Larry David. On certain days of the week I find his "Curb Your Enthusiasm" funnier than "Seinfeld". The two men have very different styles and approaches to comedy so I felt it would be interesting to see how these two men would work together. On paper David seemed a good choice to play "the Woody Allen role". But, as David's character, Boris Yellnikoff, tells us at one point in the film, "life is not on paper".

Boris Yellnikoff (David) was almost nominated for a Nobel Prize for his work as a physicist where he studied quantum mechanics. He and his wife have recently divorced after Boris realized they were simply perfect for each other. Thus proving the marriage wouldn't work, so he tries to kill himself by jumping out of a window. After the failed attempt he now walks around with a limp. This made me think of a running gag in Allen's "Melinda & Melinda" (2005) where Will Ferrell plays an out of work actor whose claim to fame is playing each character with a limp. Now all Boris does is sit down with friends, which include Michael McKean, and complain about the world.

Boris is an Archie Bunker type of character. He is very outspoken and insulting but he is for the left. He complains about religion and the so-called "religious right". He lectures how America is still stuck in racism despite having elected a black president. He views the world as being filled with morons, or "cretins" as he calls them. Only he can see the big picture and where the world is headed. Such is the burden of being a self-proclaimed genius.

Now poor Boris has a part-time job teaching children how to play chess. Since they naturally are not up to his standards he beats them with the chess board. But Boris' life is about to change when he meets a young runaway from Mississippi, Melodie St. Ann Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood). Being only 21 and according to Boris "sub-mental" she will never make it in the big city. Boris takes pity on her and invites her into his home for a meal. From this point on Boris' life will never be the same.

Without going into too much eventually Melodie's parents follow her. First her mother, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson), finds her and informs her she and her father, John (Ed Begley Jr.) have divorced. He was cheating on her with her best friend. When John enters the film it is to win back Marietta. But New York has changed her and she no longer wants him back.

At first I enjoyed "Whatever Works". I actually found I agreed with much of what Boris said. But soon it becomes clear, what hurts "Whatever Works" the most is Boris. After a while I simply couldn't take the left-wing ranting anymore. And not just because it was far left. It just becomes annoying listening to someone complain so much. Boris is not a likable character. Archie Bunker, in his own way was likable. He grew on you. Clint Eastwood tried something similar in "Gran Torino" (2008) and made it worked. Both characters seemed to have an arc to them. Boris doesn't. After a while Boris becomes the least interesting character. I was having a better time when he wasn't on-screen. He becomes irrelevant in his own story!

I don't know if any of this would have changed if Allen had played the role. In fact Allen says he never intended to play the role. He says it was originally written for Zero Mostel, the two men worked together on the Martin Ritt film "The Front" (1976). As I watched "Whatever Work" I couldn't help but think of Mostel in the role. He would have been a perfect choice for the film and because of his wonderful acting ability he probably would have found a way to make the character more enduring. Larry David, bless him, just isn't a great actor. He is one funny son-of-a-gun, but has a very limited range. In some ways he is merely playing an extension of his character on "Curb", but Boris has a bit more depth to him.

I think "Whatever Works" could have used some more rewrites. SPOILER ALERT: In this sort of movie, with this kind of character, normally you would expect the other shoe to drop, meaning some sort of transformation. Boris would turn into a good guy. He would learn something from these people; Melodie and her parents, but no. He remains the same way from beginning to end. And why does Melodie have to marry him? We never see the two ever show any affection for each other. We don't even see them kiss. But, given the public reaction to Allen, it is probably best he doesn't show that. But why marriage? What if they just fooled around. END SPOILER

Besides David everyone else seems to be doing a fine acting job though too many of the roles are limited. Evan Rachel Wood has a sweet demeanor to herself and is believeable has an innocent southern girl. Patricia Clarkson has some funny moments. Ed Begley Jr. I thought goes through a transformation too quickly however. His character just seemed to be thrown into the film out of nowhere.

And the last thing which bothers me about "Whatever Works" is the film's message. There is so much venom, so much hatred in Allen's script. Allen suggest the world needs to be more left-wing. Conservatives are dim-witted morons. They need to move to New York. Once they learn there is no God and abandon everything they believe in, only then will they be happy. This is the point Allen gets fully across with the Marietta character.

Allen hasn't made a film in New York for 4 years now. His last was "Melinda & Melinda" (2005). Surprisingly, returning back to his hometown, Allen doesn't make much of the New York landscape. You'd think after not shooting a film here all this time he'd want to show off his city again. Not so.

This leads to a problem I have not with Allen but the critics. It has received mostly negative reviews. True, I don't like it either, but I haven't abandon Allen. I'll watch his next film and the one after that. At no point in this review did I suggest Allen should stop making movies, unlike some. But these recent attacks make the critics look pretentious. Nearly every American critic was ready to drop dead over Allen after "Match Point" (2005). They declared it a triumphant return! He made so much use of the London landscape. Unlike Americans, whom seem to have an unhealthy obsession with the U.K., I never found the London backdrop so special. I thought he did a great job showing Spain in last year's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008), which the critics also went wild over. But now that Allen has return to America they condemn him. It strikes me as strange. Americans are always ready to praise European films but dismiss their own.

If you read my original reviews for Allen's "Anything Else" (2003) and "Scoop" (2006) on amazon, you'll see at first I didn't like either one of those films. Since that time I have changed my mind. I wrote another review for "Scoop" on this blog and recommended it. This may seem odd but with those two Allen films I found they worked better on the small screen. There was something about being in the comfort of my own home in my room watching these films which made me enjoy them. Will that happen with "Whatever Works"? Maybe. Some movies I seem to enjoy on the big screen and the small screen. Others I enjoy only on the small screen. In the end it doesn't matter. Whatever works.