Review of Whatever Works (2009) by Natalia N — 31 Mar 2010

Whatever works struck me as boring and annoying because I knew what Larry David's comedic style was about. Although I haven't seen many of his films/series I had heard that he was a tad too realistic about life and such. A friend of mine told me that I had to see this film because it had such a cool cast, and I agreed; I mean I'm a real fan of Woody Allen's film and his styles. So we gave it a shot to see it together.

I have to say, as I did earlier, I thought it was going to be really long and boring. And at first the plot and storyline started to move rather slowly, and I was also starting to get accustomed to the fact that Larry's character was constantly nagging. So I eventually did, and I started to enjoy it. Piece by piece we can see (like Larry's character explains it) Evan Rachel Wood, a teenage runaway from an obscure christian family's uptight lifestyle changes an old man's life and almost his views about life and how the universe worked it's ways. As if it was planned by the universe to create a perfect balance in the world.

He teaches her whatever he can because, as he calls her "simple minded" she is in need of a genius' intellect. And so she learns a couple of things, enough to know and decide on her life for herself. It's a quirky comedic film, with vast lines of dark humor, for which you have to be in the mood for, or else you'll end up deeply depressed.