It's a sweet tale of an expectant young couple looking for a place to nest and lives their lives once their baby pops out. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would because of all the mixed things I had heard about it. It's worth viewing mainly for the supporting actors who do such great comic and poignant turns in it. Allison Janney and Jim Gaffigan as the polar opposite married couple in Phoenix are a hoot. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Josh Hamilton are creepily funny as the uber new age couple. And finally Melanie Lynskey and Chris Messina are stellar as the tragically bittersweet couple who live in Montreal. So if the best performances are turned in by the supporting actors where does that leave out erstwhile leads? Well, Maya Rudolph is fine but John Krazinski kind of fades against the strong performances turned in by everyone else. He's kind of milquetoast.Over all thought I recommend this movie. It's a sweet little film.
And we watched this one Saturday night:
Woody Allen finally got the memo that moviegoers were creeped out by him when he cast himself as the love interest to very young women. So what did he do in this movie? He casts Larry David in 'the Woody Allen' role. And not unsurprisingly Larry David is a perfect fit for that role. Too bad the movie as a whole doesn't hold up.This film is another in the long line of Woody Allen films that tells us that all the world's idiocy, racism, and sexism would be cured if we all just moved to New York city. It's a magical place where we southern racists learn to love minorities, where the repressed backwoods catfish eating holy rollers leave their god behind and get civilization and learn to love jazz and polyamory, and where the long closeted can finally come out and open antique stores with their new found same sex partners. Oy vey, what a magical place Woody's NYC is! Too bad it's only a fantasy that a New York city centric old man enjoys.
This movie is cute in parts and Rachel Evan Wood is very pretty to look at but that's about it. I'll give Larry David credit for becoming Woody Allen in this movie but I can't recommend it. To me the stink of southern stereotypes was too strong to get past.
11 comments:
Would maybe see Away We Go, but will probably pass on the other one.
I used to enjoy a little Woody when I was a teen and in my 20s. Then he just got kind of repetitive. Then I just couldn't bring myself to see anything he did anymore after that whole marrying his daughter thing.
When it comes to Woody, he could have quit after "Love & Death".
Doc
Woody's rants used to be fun, oh, twenty years ago, but "Whatever Works" was ALL rant! I do admit Larry David (playing the most obnoxious New Yorker who ever existed) did a good job--and the way he gradually warms up and becomes almost human by the end, and even gets a partner who's not one-third his age, was fun to watch.
"Away we Go" looks good and I'll check it out, but the second one looks creepy and clichéd.
The only Allen movie I really enjoyed was "Vicky Christina Barcelona", which took place in Spain.
I'm sick of watching movies/reading books that take place in New York! Enough already!
Maggie G was GENIUS! So incredibly unsettling. Funny in the creepiest way. I'll never look at a stroller the same way again.
Yeah, Woody Allen and I don't hang anymore. Blah. ;P
I really want to see Away We Go. I'm glad you liked it. I'll make sure to see it soon......
((Hugs))
laura
Oh, I do love your movie reviews Monkey...I've added 'Away We Go' to my list...thanks!!
As for the second one...I can't stand Larry David...no specific reason, he just annoys me, to the detriment of whatever he's in...so I'll pass.
Dr. Monkey, does the term "flyover state" annoy you as much as it does me?
I'm just wondering how all those great southern authors and playwrights managed to put two words together, being the inbred ignorant hicks they are/were.
Maybe listening to this will soothe your nerves. It's what "you people" like, isn't it?
Very very grim, chock full of outright hatred and intolerance, the potent nastiness then wrapped up in totally fake good feeling & shallow moralising. This film is not funny at all. I'm tired of the paedophile plot you see in a lot of WA films. LD is free to do whatever works for him in this film, but doesn't allow anybody the same freedom. You can hear the camera very loudly in several scenes and the yellow/green grading used in many WA films is like having a perceptual disorder.
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