Review of To Rome with Love (2012) by Gianni F — 16 Sep 2012

It seems like Woody Allen is one of the rare filmmakers where everyone agrees on the different magnitudes and importance of his works.

After the sensational Midnight in Paris, as so often in recent years, Woody's follow up disappointed audiences and critics around the world.

I must agree To Rome with Love is nowhere near his greatest masterpieces but I've seen worse from him and the film is still entertaining as hell with a bunch of unique and likable characters, lots of quotable lines (most from Woody himself), a neat setting and the artsy bourgeois charm we all know very well from his movies.

What bothered me the most though is the abundant number of over-silly moments and exaggerations. Especially Roberto Benigni's Mr Pisanello who suddenly becomes a celebrity for no reason often falls into this category. It's great to see Woody Allen himself back on the big screen though. His screen presence is undeniably great and he still plays the neurotic and quirky complainer as well as anyone. He has also most of the best lines in the film (some of which he shares with his in-film wife Judy Davis).

The moral message of TRWL is also somewhat questionable - Woody glamorizes affairs with such ignorance and casualness that even shocked me as a follower of his films. It somehow works though as it really made me think about this very subject.

One more (forgettable) little effort of Allen that provides us with some laughs, quirky characters and the distinct Woody Allen charm and feeling we don't wanna miss on a yearly basis.