Woody Allen is about as hit and miss as a filmmaker can be in my perspective. He is right up there with Norman Jewison and Oliver Stone in directors that can really stun me or really amaze me or just be kind of in the middle. In the case of To Rome With Love-Allen is off track. After an impressive streak of the greats Midnight In Paris and Vicky Cristina Barcelona and the very fun (but just good) You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger...Allen has somehow fell on his face making what could be the most mediocre film of the year. In order to fully explain just how mediocre this film is..I will have to divide this review into four paragraphs-each one being about one of the stories.
One of the stories follows Jack (Jesse Eisenberg)-a nerdy guy who is going out with Sally (Greta Gerwig). When Sally's friend Monica (Ellen Page) shows up in town-Jack instantly falls for her while being pressured by John (Alec Baldwin) not to fall for her. This is by far the worst story. This is due to the fact that Jack acts as if Monica is some angel sent to him from Heaven. However..the audience is annoyed by Monica and therefore can not get involved in the story. Also...we never know if Jack is just imagining John or if he is really there. This causes for too many confusing moments in which the audience is never sure whether Jack is sane or not and can never root for him because of this.
The next story follows Antonio (Allesandro Tiberi) who loses his ravishing wife-Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) and then finds another love in Anna (Penelope Cruz)-a hooker who has mistakenly been sent to him. Milly falls for a "sex symbol" actor named Luca Salta (Antonio Albanese). The funny part of this story is that Luca is not a handsome man and he is portrayed as a very, very ideal sex symbol. The lame part of this is that no hooker would ever look like Cruz...ever. Overall..this is a story that has been done to death and (mostly) fails miserably.
Another story follows Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliato) who meets his son's fiance's father Jerry (Woody Allen). Jerry believes that Giancarlo is an excellent singer but he can only sing in the shower because he's not in front of people so Jerry-oh, you will have more fun at the surprise that is to come. Allen is hilarious here and the visual gags (hint, hint) that comes from the plot are drop dead funny. This is by far the best of the stories.
The last story involves Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni)-a normal man who becomes an overnight celebrity and doesn't know why. People interview him asking him what he had for breakfast and covering his shaving. Although this story does feel dated..it makes up for it by being extremely funny and endearing while making a point about how society has always been.
Overall...To Rome With Love is just mediocre. There's no other way of putting it. Some stuff works, some stuff does not. Go see it with low expectations....you'll like it more that way.
(2 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for some sexual references)
No comments:
Post a Comment