Review of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) by Stuart K — 02 Sep 2011

Woody Allen's 4th film to be set in London after Match Point (2005), Scoop (2006) and Cassandra's Dream (2007), and this one is the best of his London based films. Despite some dodgy stereotypes, it's based on the themes of believing in faith, and no matter how bad things get in life, we all live in hope of better things.

This has Alfie Shepridge (Anthony Hopkins) divorcing his wife Helena (Gemma Jones) in favour of dim-witted call girl Charmaine (Lucy Punch). Helena goes for advice from bogus fortune teller Cristal (Pauline Collins), who gives her hope that everything will be alright, even if everything in her life isn't.

Helena's daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) is in a difficult marriage with Roy (Josh Brolin), a writer who had one success, and then nothing else. Roy becomes romantically obsessed with Dia (Freida Pinto), a music student who lives across the way from Sally and Roy's flat.

Sally however has a brief fling with her employer Greg (Antonio Banderas), but he's also having an affair with an artist that Sally is acquainted with, while Roy makes his move on Dia. It's a very slight, episodic film, although it does end too abruptly with none of the stories wound up, leaving them up in the air.

But, maybe that's the point, this is about a slice of life in the grand scheme of things. It has good dialogue from Woody, and a good supporting cast including Philip Glenister, Celia Irmie, Anna Friel, Lynda Baron, Roger Ashton-Griffiths and Meera Syal.