Whatever Works

Starring: Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Michael McKean, Ed Begley, Jr.
Directed by: Woody Allen
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Romance
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary:
A negative, pessimistic man (Larry David) meets a young, impressionable girl (Evan Rachel Wood). The two hit it off, and get married, much to the chagrin of her mother (Patricia Clarkson) and father (Ed Begley, Jr.)

Review:

Tim: I guess I should start this out by saying I'm not the biggest Woody Allen fan. I don't hate him- I think he has made some very solid movies throughout his career. However, I also get annoyed with him pretty quickly. His movies are too similar, and I hate when he plays the same neurotic character over and over again. I just lose patience with him and his movies. So, I respect him when he makes good films, but I can be hard on him when his movies miss the mark (which happens too often).

That being said, I wasn't a huge fan of Whatever Works. The script was an old one Woody Allen wrote years ago, but never made it into a movie. Because of the writer's strike a few years ago, he decided to dust it off. That's exactly what this movie felt like to me- an old idea spruced up just a bit for modern audiences. It felt weak on almost every level.

I don't mind Larry David, but I certainly don't love him, either. I didn't like him much here, partially because I felt certain Allen wrote this role for himself. I could see Allen's neurotic mumbling and worldview in every second of David's performance, and I didn't like it much. I get that he's supposed to be a negative, unlikable character, but I just grew so tired of him. He's fine in small doses, but he wore on me the longer the film went on.

I can't say that any part of this movie really angered me or made me hate it. I didn't feel any of those strong emotions. Instead, I just felt like the entire film was completely inconsequential. It was so hard to care about anything that happened in the entire film. I've always believed every movie can teach you a lesson, but this is one that you had to work a bit to take a lesson away. I didn't have fun watching this movie. Yes, I thought a little and laughed a few times, but there was just so very little that was entertaining here. It was a movie devoid of enjoyment.

Whatever Works may be fun for Woody Allen or Larry David fans, but I just don't see much here to appeal to wider audiences. I'm not surprised that audiences generally stayed away from this film (it made just over $5 million)- why would you pay money to watch something like this? I don't get it. I can't believe anyone would ever claim this to be one of Allen's better films. It's a disappointment.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5.5



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