Whatever Works (2009)

In the 1980s, Woody Allen movies would open in January in NY and LA but not until March in my parents' home town. For much of that decade I was single in LA, so I waited until my parents' yearly vacation to southern California in February to see each one. It was a nice routine. This time, because Jack, Amy, & I are big Larry David fans (and Jack & I really like Woody Allen's work--I, for one, have seen all 40 of the movies he directed that are listed on imdb, including the segment of New York Stories (1989), and I have enjoyed every one except perhaps Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)), we had to wait to find a time when the three of us could go together (that girl is always working this summer!). That's why we weren't there opening night and why we didn't go to Brüno today. Fans that we are, damn the reviews, full speed ahead.

And if you are a fan, too, don't miss this. Arguably not his best, but plenty of laughs. Who better to serve as the Allen alter-ego, with complete contempt for most other human beings, expressed in big vocabulary words, than David (Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO, which was a comedy special before it was a series, writer of Seinfeld, and teeny parts in in Radio Days (1984) and the Allen segment of New York Stories, which was called "Oedipus Wrecks," plus--I have to put this in for Judy--he was in a 1983 Henry Jaglom movie called Can She Bake a Cherry Pie, which Judy hated because the lead characters were so annoyingly neurotic)? Allen wrote this script in the 1970s for Zero Mostel, shelved it when Mostel died, then dusted it off, updated it, and cast David with wonderful supporting actors Evan Rachel Wood (I first noticed her in the TV series Once and Again (1999-2002), also unforgettable in Thirteen (2003), The Upside of Anger (2005), Down in the Valley (2005), Running With Scissors (2006), and The Wrestler) as Melodie, Patricia Clarkson (hugely talented--see her in the TV series Murder One (1995-96), High Art (1998), Far From Heaven (2002), Pieces of April, The Station Agent (2003), Good Night and Good Luck (2005), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Elegy, HBO's Six Feet Under (7 episodes 2002-05), Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, not necessarily in that order) as Marietta, and Ed Begley Jr. (not quite 60 years old, he has 232 acting credits on imdb--some that I liked were his recurring role in 8 episodes of Six Feet Under (2001-05), 5 of Arrested Development (Fox 2005-06), 15 of Gary Unmarried (CBS 2008-09), This is Spinal Tap (1984), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), For Your Consideration (2006), the under-the-radar She-Devil (1989) with Roseanne Barr and Meryl Streep, and, as his own fanatically ecological self, in the HGTV series Living With Ed) as John. Michael McKean (who has lots of credits besides This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration, and, of course playing Lenny on Laverne & Shirley (1976-83)) is under-used as one of the deli guys who, like in Allen's Broadway Danny Rose (1984), introduce the characters and comment on the action from time to time. When Melodie goes out to hear music, be sure to notice the name of the band on the theatre marquee, proving that Allen's feelings about metal music have not changed since Dianne Wiest character took him in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). Oh, and, at one point in the last reel, I shrieked out loud. Sorry!

After you see it, you may enjoy this long transcript of a press conference with Allen, David, and others (I consider at least one element in it a spoiler, so I don't recommend you read it before).