As far as Woody Allen's films go, this one's middle of the pack - if that. What struck me about it was how relentlessly old-fashioned it is; it plays out like a 1940's film. The characters are there to play roles in some drama, not to exist as fully-formed human beings. And the psychological underpinnings of their behavior are not examined - they just do this, and do that.
Usually his films more resemble ones from the past 40 years. Now, that's not a kiss of death. An old-fashioned movie can be entertaining, or enlightening. But this is neither. There's nothing much going on here - just a hackneyed story, which has little relevance to modern life. It compares very unfavorably with a more vital recent work of his, such as "Whatever Works". And, compares unfavorably with just about any other movie that you could pick off a marquee. The pleasures here are slim, and arguably not of sufficient quantity that it's worth one's time to sit through this.
As to Cate Blanchett's performance here, which is being hyped, it galls me that people are going on about it. She is doing a full-on imitation of the actress Judy Davis, herself best known for her work with Allen. Why he didn't want to use Davis herself in this part, we can only guess. Instead we get Blanchett doing a hammy version of her. Rating : C-.
No comments:
Post a Comment