Woody Allen is a one-man creative factory. But the 73-year-old acclaimed director who made the 1977 classic “Annie Hall”cannot please the critics with every new film. Now, reviewers are accusing him of an artistic breakdown over his newest movie ”Whatever Works,” a comedy opening in limited U.S. release on Friday.
It is Allen’s first movie set in his native New York since the 2005 “Melinda and Melinda,” and it tells of a misanthropic man, portrayed by Larry David, who marries a younger woman.
Allen’s last film, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” was a hit with critics and at the box office, earning $23 million in the U.S. and Canada and another $70 million internationally, where the director has a more ardent fan base. It was his biggest success in years, although the 2005 philosophical thriller “Match Point” came close with a worldwide gross at box offices of $85 million. The question is, will Allen sustain that success with his latest film?
The critics don’t think so.
“‘Whatever Works’ feels like something out of time and, worse, out of step,” Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone magazine.
Writing in Entertainment Weekly magazine, Lisa Schwarzbaum said, “The fact that Allen wrote the 
script in the ’70s explains something about why his newest film feels so old.”
Review aggregator Rottentomatoes.com reported as of Friday afternoon that only 7 percent of its top critics gave the movie a positive review.
Among the critics throwing a monkey wrench in the gears of “Whatever Works” are Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, who calls it only “sporadically amusing,” Rex Reed of the New York Observer, who quips that “nothing works,” and A.O. Scott of the New York Times, who follows up with “None of it works. Or it works too hard. Whatever.”
Larry David, of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame, told Reuters that he was reluctant to take the part because he “didn’t want to be the guy to screw up Woody Allen’s movie.” David, who in some ways is Allen’s on-screen doppelganger, said that he thinks the film succeeds. It remains to be seen what the public thinks.
But given that movie audiences tend to give more credence to critics before seeing a Woody Allen movie than they do for a big budget Hollywood event movie, it looks like the director may be hard-pressed to match last year’s successful “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
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Rex Reed openly admits that he hated Seinfeld and is “baffled” by the humor of Curb Your Enthusiasm so of course he is not going to like this film. Kenneth Turan should stick to WRITING his reviews as his video review of this movie was duller than my razor; where does this guy come off as top critic? Very hollow and shallow. The same can be said of Peter Travers from Rolling Stone…his favorite word is scuzzbucket or scumbucket; Doctor Travers, cure yourself!
Most of the “whatever” reviews have been lazy essays and not too thorough…this is actually a very entertaining and good film. While it may not be Annie Hall, Manhattan, or Stardust Memories, it certainly is worth seeing. The writing is sharp and timely and the cast is excellent. Too many critics have failed to note that this Woody Allen film actually has a happy ending and wraps up nicely where many of his films leave you with a sense of irony and questions. it seems that the critics reviews could use some reviews as well. They are once again hyper focused on Allen’s personal lifestyle and say that he has lost his edge. I disagree.
Go see this film and ask yourself: could Larry David have played the Jack Nicholson role in As Good As It Gets? What’s the difference? Very similar characters with slight nuances of sincerity if you watch closely. Nicholson’s character was hateful, nasty and cruel BUT it was honored with an Academy Award…go figure.
- Posted by Dave Scherman