Review of Whatever Works (2009) by Rainer K — 31 Jul 2012
Woody Allen created yet another pessimistic, philosophical, (self-proclaimed) genius but for once he doesn't play the man himself. He let's Larry David do the job - and he does it quite fine.
His monologues are amusing and thoughtful and although he's highly unlikable he's easy to identify with and anchors the film really well.
But Larry David playing basically Woody is probably the only thing that distinguishes Whatever Works from Allen's usual works. Not that it's a bad movie, I still enjoyed it, and scenes like the opening monologue are just great and the unlikely relationship between the naive, dumb Southern princess and the misanthropic Jew is fun but at times Whatever Works just seems unpolished and it also has the possibly worst script of any Allen film I've seen so far. There are far too many scenes that could have come from any other ordinary screenwriter in Hollywood and not from the old master's hand himself.
Still, an enjoyable flick, mostly because of Larry David, but I doubt that non-Woody Allen enthusiasts will see much greatness in it.
This review of Whatever Works (2009) was written by Rainer K on 31 Jul 2012.
Whatever Works has generally received positive reviews.
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