Can Larry David channel Woody Allen for ‘Whatever Works’?Can Larry David channel Woody Allen for ‘Whatever Works’?
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In his mid-70s, Woody Allen continues to write and direct a film every year. Fairly early on in his nearly 40-film career, he created — or at least became forever identified with — a specific subgenre: It could be described as the Neurotic Romantic Comedy. But, whenever another filmmaker works in the same vein, the term that almost always comes up is “a sort of Woody Allen comedy.”
To his credit, Allen has frequently made movies far outside this category — both bad (“September”) and good (“Cassandra’s Dream”). But he always returns … which is a good thing, since it brings out much of the best in him. “Whatever Works,” his latest, is firmly in this tradition.
Larry David (the latest in a long line of on-screen Allen surrogates) plays Boris Yellnikoff, self-styled genius who constantly reminds people that he almost won a Nobel Prize in physics. Boris is such a grouch he makes previous Allen misanthropes look positively Panglossian. It’s not just that he regards everyone else in the world as morons; it’s that he insists on letting those feelings be known. (How this guy has made it to the age of 62 without getting beaten to a vegetative pulp is one of the film’s unanswered questions.)
One night, homeless 20-ish runaway Melody St. Anne Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood) manages to wheedle her way into Boris’ apartment, and, over the course of months, the inevitable happens. She lifts his spirits, even as he infects her with his pessimism. They fall in something-like-love and get reasonably happily married.
Then Melody’s mom (Patricia Clarkson) shows up.
What works (and doesn’t) in “Whatever Works” … after the jump.
There is very little here that Allen hasn’t done considerably better in the past. The “wise older man and impressionable young woman” theme was one of the central threads in “Manhattan,” which remains arguably his greatest film. But it also figures in “Mighty Aphrodite,” “Husbands and Wives,” “Hannah and Her Sister” and (it’s impossible to forget) his own life. The characters’ ages here are pretty close to his and Soon-Yi Previn’s when The Scandal broke.
Repeating themes and even narrative devices — Boris addresses the camera directly, like Alvy in Annie Hall — is not inherently a negative, although the result here seems less nuanced. But repeating an easily changeable plot detail from his last film, “Vicki Cristina Barcelona” — a major character discovers untapped artistic talent as a photographer — is just weird.
But the main problem is the casting of David. When Allen himself played the “Woody Allen” character, he somehow remained a likable jerk through all the irritating whining. Boris, on the other hand, is just an irritating jerk. And the stiffness of David’s performance gives one renewed appreciation for Allen’s sometimes overlooked acting abilities.
Does it sound as though I hated “Whatever Works”? Well, honestly, not at all. For all these problems, I still enjoyed it for one reason — Allen continues to write the best jokes in the business. I repeatedly laughed out loud at lines that no one else would have thought of. That might not sound like a big deal, but whatever: It works for me.
source: www.thisisbrandx.com
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