I saw this movie a view times. I would agree that this is not the best of his movies. However, it is still superior to most Hollywood garbage. The kind of honest writing that this movie has that seems down to earth and not full of cheap tactics to grab the audience's attention is an example of why I still love Woody Allen movies. I have very few complaints about his work although my favorite films are definitely over 10 to 15 years old. I would still recommend it to Woody Allen fans.
The film making is thought provoking. the film's characters' life is hectic, disorganized and falling apart at the seams, Meanwhile his creative works are organized and stable. If you watch closely you will notice that the camera work is jumpy, chaotic and unstable during the scenes that depict his personal life. The camera work in The scenes that are depicting the stories written by the main character are steady, organized and calm. I thought it was still pretty rare to find something this thoughtful in a movie.
I think that Allen may be getting progressively self-indulgent. I think it is a little painful to see him pairing himself with gorgeous blonds and other young model types ("curse of the Jade Scorpion" and "Hollywood ending" are great examples). For the simple reason that one of his best qualities in his comedy was his self-deprecating style that seemed to differentiate himself from the run of the mill "movie star films". This being said, this movie is not a good example of his increasing self-indulgence.
It actually shows Woody loose the girl to a younger (Crystal who really isn't that young) more hip man-of-the-world. In this film, you see the character having to face reality, which pains him because he can only functionally exist in a world of fantasy. This is interesting content.
Part of the problem is there are such great expectations with such an all star cast (Williams and Crystal for example). I would say this is far from his ground-breaking work. The jokes aren't that hilarious and the acting is just "OK" ,with the exception of the more relaxed/sincere scenes with Bob Balaban. It is still 10 times more intelligent than the average movie. Movies that has to use buckets of blood and flashes of naked bodies just to keep you awake.
I would not recommend this movie for anyone with a short attention span. In fact I wouldn't recommend this film unless you have seen Woody's earlier films first (like Bananas, Annie Hall etc). However, I am a fan of Woody's writing and film making and I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
The film making is thought provoking. the film's characters' life is hectic, disorganized and falling apart at the seams, Meanwhile his creative works are organized and stable. If you watch closely you will notice that the camera work is jumpy, chaotic and unstable during the scenes that depict his personal life. The camera work in The scenes that are depicting the stories written by the main character are steady, organized and calm. I thought it was still pretty rare to find something this thoughtful in a movie.
I think that Allen may be getting progressively self-indulgent. I think it is a little painful to see him pairing himself with gorgeous blonds and other young model types ("curse of the Jade Scorpion" and "Hollywood ending" are great examples). For the simple reason that one of his best qualities in his comedy was his self-deprecating style that seemed to differentiate himself from the run of the mill "movie star films". This being said, this movie is not a good example of his increasing self-indulgence.
It actually shows Woody loose the girl to a younger (Crystal who really isn't that young) more hip man-of-the-world. In this film, you see the character having to face reality, which pains him because he can only functionally exist in a world of fantasy. This is interesting content.
Part of the problem is there are such great expectations with such an all star cast (Williams and Crystal for example). I would say this is far from his ground-breaking work. The jokes aren't that hilarious and the acting is just "OK" ,with the exception of the more relaxed/sincere scenes with Bob Balaban. It is still 10 times more intelligent than the average movie. Movies that has to use buckets of blood and flashes of naked bodies just to keep you awake.
I would not recommend this movie for anyone with a short attention span. In fact I wouldn't recommend this film unless you have seen Woody's earlier films first (like Bananas, Annie Hall etc). However, I am a fan of Woody's writing and film making and I still enjoyed it quite a bit.