Woody Allen's Whatever Works - DVD Review
Larry David Takes Woody's Usual Role in Too-Pat Comedy From 2009
Oct 21, 2009
If you don't like Woody Allen, not to worry -- this time out you've got Larry David in the Woody role. Larry's probably there because Woody got tired of being slammed for casting himself opposite actresses at least 40 years his junior.
Larry David as Woody Allen's Surrogate
So it's nice to have 61-year-old Larry David hooking up with 22-year-old Evan Rachel Wood instead of 74-year-old Woody.
Let's face it: Larry and Woody are so close in age, language, tone, persona and appearance that -- hair notwithstanding -- they're practically cinematic clones.
Of course there's a distinct ick-factor in the age difference between these two guys and Wood. Even if the movie's theme is embodied in the title.
In any event, you know from the very start it's a Woody Allen picture because over the opening credits, Groucho sings Hello, I Must Be Going from the soundtrack of Animal Crackers.
(Translation: At this point in his career, Woody is nearing self-parody.)
May-September Romance Never Really Works
In Whatever Works, Larry is the cynical, neurotic nihilist whose chance encounter with a teen runaway sets up a pretty predictable May-September story arc.
Allen breaks the fourth wall early and returns to the device frequently during a 92-minute film that actually feels shorter. But the gimmick of having Larry David speak directly into camera only feels old and forced.
Kind of like this comedy.
Not a "Feel-Good" Comedy
Larry establishes his character's worldview in one early speech: "My story is...whatever works. You know, as long as you don't hurt anybody. Any way you can filch a little joy in this cruel, dog-eat-dog, pointless black chaos -- that's my story."
Later, he adds, "I'm not a likable guy. Charm has never been a priority with me. And just so you know, this is not the 'feel-good movie of the year.' So if you're one of those idiots who needs to feel good, go get yourself a foot massage."
The tale in a nutshell: Death-obsessed, nasty Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) ekes out a living teaching chess to kids. Schlepping home to his hovel one night, Boris is stopped in an alley by a naive, unwashed Mississippi teen runaway, Melody St. Ann Celestine (the too-precious Evan Rachel Wood). He reluctantly offers a little help, and before Boris knows it, the adoring girl has moved in.
Evan Rachel Wood's Character Deliberately Banal
Because this is a Woody Allen picture, they bond initially over a Fred Astaire movie on late night TV. And since this is an opposites-attract relationship, we are treated to a heaping helping of both Melody's passive, peaches-and-cream banality and Boris's fatalism and sarcasm. Luckily for Melody, most of Boris's barbs are so over her head that he can't alienate her, no matter how mean spirited he gets.
Boris has a heullva time explaining all this to his friends, who are used to his misanthropic rages.
Let's see -- middle-aged man and teenager. Unlikely couple. Trying to make it work in New York City. Or, should I say, Manhattan.
(At least when he's being derivative, Woody has the decency to steal from himself rather than others.You gotta admire the integrity.)
Melody is a stock character, poorly drawn and uninvolving. As played by Wood, she's dim-witted and feels more like a screenwriter's chess piece than a real person.
Larry David's Boris Marries Evan Rachel Wood's Melody
Initially, Boris adopts an almost fatherly attitude. But one night, arriving home from a bad date with someone her own age, Melody begins spouting uncharacteristic contempt for the hapless guy and his friends. In short, she seems headed toward Boris-hood.
Boris is so intrigued and quietly proud of his handiwork, he marries her!
But Melody's metamorphosis is incomplete. Exposure to Boris has her spouting words like "entropy," but she never loses the innocent faith in people she needs to move past him. Which you know she inevitably will.
Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr. Get Best Scenes
Meantime, out of the blue, Melody's mom, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson, in another of her patented eccentric, movie-stealing roles) shows up, taking an instant dislike to Boris. She spends the rest of the picture undergoing her own metamorphosis, all while trying to fix up her married daughter with someone she deems more suitable.
Oddly, the best scenes in the film don't involve the leads. Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr. (as her estranged husband John) steal big chunks of their respective screen times. Allen has generously given these gifted performers wonderful moments. Better, in fact, than most of the interactions between Boris and Melody.
Others in the cast include Michael McKean and Conleth Hill as two of Boris's hang-out pals, Henry Cavill as a new love interest for Melody and, in a wonderful scene late in the film, the gifted Jessica Hecht as a woman Boris literally falls for.
Not figuratively. Literally.
Last Scene in Whatever Works...Doesn't
The contrived feel-good ending is a real eye-roller. It works way too hard trying to disprove Boris's early declaration this isn't the feel-good movie of the year. In fact, Allen has tried to make it exactly that.
In Hannah and Her Sisters, the happy ending worked very nicely. Here, it just rings false.
The DVD from Sony Pictures Classics is bare bones, including just the film, its trailer and a "preview" -- which is really just a trailer for the studio's current theatrical release An Education.
It carries a suggested list price of $27.96 for DVD, $39.95 for blu-ray that's BD-Live enabled. This allows viewers with certain blu-ray players to download content from the 'net, which would make the marketing people at Sony very happy. The DVD and blu-ray releases are available Oct. 27, 2009.
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