Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: I LOVE WOODY ALLEN MOVIES. So, I think that gives my review at least some credence.
Now, about this film: I feel that it wasted my time. There was virtually nothing redeeming about the movie. The acting was almost uniformly disappointing. It has an all-star cast but Woody managed to make them look like amateurs.
The love interest – Michael J. Fox and Mayim Bialik – is completely unconvincing. Fox never once shows any real attraction. In fact, it feels more like he's trying to avoid her than to get together. And, though Bialik is well cast in that she looks like she could be the daughter of Woody and Julie, she's entirely miscast as a love foil for Fox; they look like an unlikely couple.
Surprisingly, there was one scene, where Woody and his wife (Julie Kavner) connect – she starts to cry and he attempts to comfort her – in which there was a poignancy which I felt, and which allowed the jokes to really penetrate. Other than that, I think Woody took what could have been a terrific farce (in the positive sense) and turned it into a real farce.
Now, about this film: I feel that it wasted my time. There was virtually nothing redeeming about the movie. The acting was almost uniformly disappointing. It has an all-star cast but Woody managed to make them look like amateurs.
The love interest – Michael J. Fox and Mayim Bialik – is completely unconvincing. Fox never once shows any real attraction. In fact, it feels more like he's trying to avoid her than to get together. And, though Bialik is well cast in that she looks like she could be the daughter of Woody and Julie, she's entirely miscast as a love foil for Fox; they look like an unlikely couple.
Surprisingly, there was one scene, where Woody and his wife (Julie Kavner) connect – she starts to cry and he attempts to comfort her – in which there was a poignancy which I felt, and which allowed the jokes to really penetrate. Other than that, I think Woody took what could have been a terrific farce (in the positive sense) and turned it into a real farce.