Review of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) by Andy F — 09 May 2012

What I've seen so far from Woody Allen pretty much amazes me. His films are actually all about the same stuff but different at the same time.

YWMATDS has elaborate characters and dialogue and a great cast to work with it. I'm not a big fan of Josh Brolin, but here he shows his sympathetic side (I didn't know he had one...). Anthony Hopkins is casted against type, and him as sporty senior creates some funny moments. Naomi Watts is still one of my favourite actresses and it happens that her character Sally is also the most interesting in the film. Antonio Banderas, Gemma Jones and Freida Pinto rounding out the next all-star Woody Allen cast.

The character set-up is also quite intriguing. It's a story of (failed) relationships or maybe even break-ups. This makes it devastating and hopeful at the same time - it just depends at which moment of your life you're watching it. YWMATDS is also considerably darker than most what I've seen from Woody but still rather comedy than drama.

For about 45 minutes I thoroughly enjoyed the film, then however, it got a bit rushed and the pacing collapsed. I had the feeling Allen tried to make another 90 minute film although he had much more story to tell.

The ending was brave though. Loose ends all over the place, Woody only concluded one of the storylines and even though I like open endings, this was a bit too unsatisfying. It raises so many questions, I just would have appreciated some clarfying statements or Woody's own thoughts on the matter. So, it just doesn't give any answers at all.

A recommendable 60% but can't give it a higher rating because of its obvious flaws.