Review of To Rome with Love (2012) by Steve P — 09 Sep 2012

Woody Allen's To Rome With Love isn't as intoxicating or as unanimously pleasing as his previous effort, Midnight in Paris, but it does provide us with some joyously, aesthetically pleasing escapism to warrant a recommendation. Allen is seventy-six years old, and still has quicker timing than many directors attempting to channel him and has been churning out a film nearly every year since 1969. With prolific qualities come some lesser works, but the film isn't lesser as much as collectively adequate.

With that phrase, I mean the film, as a whole, knows what it wants to do, is fully consumed in that idea, and sets off to accomplish its task. It has itself together. Yet, despite a rather respectable effort, it doesn't work on every level or ones that it necessarily should. The story is composed of four vignettes, none of which finding cutesy ways to intertwine with one another (probably the best option), and is complimented by an ensemble cast.

One of the first stories centers around Hayley (Alison Pill), who is visiting Rome and falls in love at first sight with Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti). She quickly decides she wants to live with him in Italy, and her parents, Phyllis (Judy Davis) and Jerry (Woody Allen), fly straight over to meet him. Allen's Jerry scores big laughs at every turn, as he complains about the turbulence on the plane, his disdain for pleasure in places, and his immediate write-off of Michelangelo that he is a Communist. Jerry soon discovers that the man's father (Fabio Armiliato, a real life opera singer) has a profound voice, but is self-conscious, untapped, and can only perfect his singing in the shower. This generates the offbeat qualities that only Allen himself can play with a straight face.

Another centers around Jesse Eisenberg's Jack, a studying architect who bumps into famed architect, John, played by Alec Baldwin. Baldwin knows what it feels like to be in Jack's shoes, and he discovers that Jack is dating Sally (Greta Gerwig) and seems to have his life under control. In walks her friend Monica (Ellen Page), and despite her pseudo-intellectual vibe and her overly detailed sex history, Jack begins to fall in love with her, and refuses to take the warning sings from John.

The two others follow Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) and Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi), a newlywed couple residing in Rome, when through a series of rather silly and uninspired events, lands Antonio in bed with a gorgeously voluptuous prostitute named Anna (Penélope Cruz), who he must now pass off as his wife, Milly, while the real Milly is being smitten by her favorite actor. The setup is corny, but provides for a nice farce and some chuckles along the way. The weakest story is oddly the one with the most ambition, and it revolves around the seemingly normal Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni), who is just a regular Joe with a regular wife and two kids. Out of nowhere, in the blink of an eye, he becomes famous and renowned for the simple things he does every day, like shaving and sleeping on his back. While the vignette is clearly synonymous with the fact at how so many undeserving people are "famous" for doing things that are unworthy of recognition and just being themselves, the comedic value is tiresome, the satire is there at the same time it isn't, and Benigni himself becomes rather uninspired as time goes on.

The cast works wonders together, mainly Eisenberg and Page who create a likable chemistry and spark untold possibilities from the start. But the scene-stealer from the first frame is Woody Allen, who returns to the acting position after six years. His presence here immediately sparks for some delightfully awkward interactions with his family, as well as some "you either get it or you don't" jokes that Allen seems able to produce effortlessly.

Rome is projected through a lens of credible elegance and warmth, not to mention a true respect for the culture and the character it possesses. To Rome With Love adds to Allen's ongoing European travelogue, and while it certainly isn't his strongest efforts, his lovable vibes are still visible through the sea of sheer craft.

Starring: Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, and Ellen Page. Directed by: Woody Allen.