Whatever Works – Liebe sich wer kann (2009)

Whatever Works – Liebe sich wer kann: Directed by Woody Allen. With Larry David, Adam Brooks, Lyle Kanouse, Michael McKean. A middle-aged, misanthropic divorcé from New York City surprisingly enters a fulfilling, Pygmalion-type relationship with a much younger, unsophisticated Southern girl.

“First, just so you know, Iu0026#39;m writing this review from France… but Iu0026#39;m from the U.S. That, so you donu0026#39;t disregard this as yet another Franco-Allen fan (theyu0026#39;ve exchanged their Jerry Lewis passion for Woody over here, and sanction everything he does). u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso, disclaimer: I really like and respect Woody Allenu0026#39;s work and Iu0026#39;m also an ex New Yorker. With a Jewish wife, no less. So no, okay, Iu0026#39;m not unbiased. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll that said… I fully agree with u0026quot;boydenu0026quot; in that this movie is far better than the reviews it gets from critics. On rottentomatoes.com, for instance, this garnered a 45% rating. Thatu0026#39;s on par with non-hits like u0026quot;Gigliu0026quot; etc. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYet, the dialogue was great… Larry David was as close to a Woody Allen substitute as anyone has come in a long time (Allen always casts people he can direct to sound like him, it seems)… and it made me crave that old New York, before the money of the recent pre-bust boom turned it into a homogenized has-been of a city. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEvan Rachel Wood, by the way, was overwhelmingly charming. And I thought all the other acting was excellent too, in the way people act in Woody Allen movies… which is ALWAYS different from what it is in other films (you occasionally get those moments where the lines are crafted or improvised rather than somewhere in the middle).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAt any rate, itu0026#39;s amazing the size of the disconnect between fan response and the response of the critics… who, in my opinion, should go watch Annie Hall and Sleeper and the like so they can remember again.”