Author Topic: Whatever Works  (Read 6462 times)

THATguy

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2009, 12:56:52 AM »
Probably the funniest movie I've seen all year, and easily the funniest Woody I've seen of all of his more recent works.  And this is coming from someone who usually can't stand Larry David.  Like others, I loved the breaking of the fourth wall, and god, so many of the lines were laugh out loud funny, with me needing to rewatch for Filmspot nominations.  Begley's line about the goddamn French is definitely going on my ballot, as might the line about becoming an Asian prostitute.

Jared

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #11 on: October 28, 2009, 03:16:26 PM »
I liked Larry David and this movie quite a bit.

That said, the women don't seem to connect with the script the same way that they used to. He hasnt found someone with the chops of Farrow, Keaton, or Wiest, and it really shows. Nothing felt right about the female leads at all. They float through the movie like cartoon characters. The eponymous character of Annie Hall was certainley goofy, but she felt REAL.

I don't think Woody's script was bad, but the execution the non LD characters left something to be desired for me.

JadeInTheATL

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2009, 09:39:18 AM »

That said, the women don't seem to connect with the script the same way that they used to. He hasnt found someone with the chops of Farrow, Keaton, or Wiest, and it really shows.

You mention some great ones there.  I thought there were 2 or 3 good female performances in V C Barcelona, particularly Rebecca Hall and Patricia Clarkson. Well, Clarkson in that one, but not so much here.  The performance I liked least was Ed Begley, Jr.  Living in the deep south for the last 30 years, I've known many evangelicals, and he reminded me of none of them at the beginning, and I thought that the weak portrayal of the character's initial attitude undercut the comedic impact of the transformation.  Strange casting there.

On the general discussion of women connecting, I wonder why he never returned to Samantha Morton.  I thought she could have become an recurring Woody woman.

IchigoNL

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2009, 05:02:55 PM »
As a Curb fan I didn't really enjoy the movie (yes, I knew it wasn't gonna be anything like it). Only thing I kinda liked were the scenes with LD, the rest was rather dull imo. Not a big fan of Woody Allen either, so that's probably why.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2009, 09:38:28 PM »
I need to give this film a full review in the future, after I catch up on my Serious Man review. I found a lot to like about this film, particularly in the first 50 minutes or so. I would agree that the females here do not deliver the comedy, but to say they are not real is not a claim I can get behind, particularly the Melody character. I'm not too high on the ending, and I do not think that David delivers Woody's dialogue as well as Woody does, but he does a great job. Additionally, I did not find the direction to be all that great, but from the two Allen films I have seen, Annie Hall and VCB, his writing here hit me the hardest. It's top notch, in a way that at least matches, if not surpasses, the quality of Annie Hall. I think. I need more time to reflect, but I think parts of this film are fantastic.

mañana

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #15 on: November 04, 2009, 11:46:13 PM »
It's top notch, in a way that at least matches, if not surpasses, the quality of Annie Hall.
You're killing me, FLY.
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FroHam X

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #16 on: November 04, 2009, 11:55:24 PM »
It's top notch, in a way that at least matches, if not surpasses, the quality of Annie Hall.
You're killing me, FLY.

Yeah. That makes no sense, considering Whatever Works has some interesting ideas at its core but never lives up to anything but an unfunny bore.
"We didn't clean the hamster's cage, the hamster's cage cleaned us!"

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FLYmeatwad

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #17 on: November 05, 2009, 07:04:31 AM »
It's top notch, in a way that at least matches, if not surpasses, the quality of Annie Hall.
You're killing me, FLY.

I should not have alienated that sentence, I figured having it proceed the part about the writing being great would imply that I meant to refer solely to the writing in the film and not the film as a whole. It's not a better film than Annie Hall by any means, but I think the dialogue works more consistently throughout this film than Annie Hall. Though it's been a year or so since I've seen Annie Hall, so I allow that "I think" portion to not make this statement definitive yet.

It's top notch, in a way that at least matches, if not surpasses, the quality of Annie Hall.
You're killing me, FLY.

Yeah. That makes no sense, considering Whatever Works has some interesting ideas at its core but never lives up to anything but an unfunny bore.

Between this and Burn After Reading I am beginning to see a pattern.

FroHam X

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #18 on: November 05, 2009, 08:15:49 AM »
It's top notch, in a way that at least matches, if not surpasses, the quality of Annie Hall.
You're killing me, FLY.

Yeah. That makes no sense, considering Whatever Works has some interesting ideas at its core but never lives up to anything but an unfunny bore.

Between this and Burn After Reading I am beginning to see a pattern.

Yeah. The pattern is that I don't find those movies funny. I think the Coens can be comedic geniuses, but Burn After Reading failed at making me laugh. Worse yet, they way they went about saying what they were trying to say bothered me greatly. Like a big "screw you" after making me sit through 2 hours of unfunny nonsense.
"We didn't clean the hamster's cage, the hamster's cage cleaned us!"

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FLYmeatwad

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Re: Whatever Works
« Reply #19 on: November 05, 2009, 08:17:31 AM »
Sometimes I just like to be whipped.