 |
Upbeat musical that works on some entertainment-value levels, but fails to delve into anything of great motivation for the audience to fully enjoy. This film is your basic Allen comedy (Standardized with the continually funny one-liners..."I should go to Paris and jump off of the Eiffel Tower. If I took the Concorde, I could be dead three hours earlier."), but with much less character development, and much more songs sung by the cast. I personally am not a fan of musicals, so I must admit that I was somewhat surprised that I semi-enjoyed this movie. I mean, it wasn't like EVITA, where the actors sung their lines throughout the entire movie. These songs were nice and lively, and introduced only when needed (Although I must admit that I could've done without the Woodster's awful crooning, and Julia Roberts' brave attempt at carrying a tune.)
Overall, the actors were very good, like every other Allen movie, with Alda, Hawn and Tim Roth sticking out in my mind as the standouts (Mind you, as per usual, I didn't care for the Barrymore performance.) The scenery shots were beautiful, especially the fall and winter snapshots of New York, and the Venician and Parisian vignettes. The ending was a bit weak, but then again, the entire story line wasn't really much to get excited about. Just a bunch of little adventures laced through some nice music and gorgeous scenery. Definitely far from my Allen favourites like ANNIE HALL (9/10), BANANAS (8/10) and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (9/10), but a continuing sign of a genius whose only barometer of success lies deep within his own consciousness and spirit. Keep it up, Woody!! You're the man.
(c) 2009 Berge Garabedian
|
|
