Review of To Rome with Love (2012) by Matthew P — 05 Jul 2014

There's a real sense that Woody was trying to stretch back more to his prose/early cinema absurdist humour but it doesn't quite come off. The Italian/crossover stories are the best ones, except the Cruz one although she's not as annoying and cliché as she was in Vicky Christina Barcelona.

There were a few too many moments though where I thought the joke was hammered through rather than subtly dropped. And it was way too predictable. All in all, it's not utterly charmless apart from the crappy predictable American love story one (except for Alex Baldwin who is fun), but it feels a bit first-draft-y, like it needed more work, and there are a lot of problems with continuity and plot, along the way.

Still, as the old cliché goes- mediocre Allen is still better than a lot of what passes for films these days. Don't rush out and seek it but if it crosses your path and you're an Allen fan, take a punt.