WOODY ALLEN CHALLENGE, WEEK 2 – TO ROME WITH LOVE

Week 2 of the reverse-order challenge is Woody’s second film set in the lovely city of Rome.

WHAT HAPPENED?

To Rome With Love has a star-studded cast (including Roberto Benigni, Alec Baldwin, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg, Penelope Cruz and Allen himself) playing a variety of characters in four separate comedy stories. Each storyline is unique and completed unconnected – apart from being set in Rome – and to give you a summary of each would not only be tedious to write but would also ruin the films enjoyment as the unpredictably is part of the films charm.

THE GOOD

The film is an out and out comedy and generally achieves its aim at making an audience laugh. In the well-written screenplay there are moments to please any comic taste with it switching from slapstick satire to darkly humouress nostalgia and back.

Each of the stories something unique however for me it is the story of two newly-wed lovers which I found most enjoyable. As both members of the couple fall into the path of adulterous temptation; scenes from this storyline begin to play out like something from a Noel Coward play. This had hilarious results that are truly fantastic.

The performances of all the cast members (both the stars and the relative unknowns) however it has to be Allen’s own performance which stands out; as he does the usual of playing himself. His part is small and hilarious and as his character prattles on about his fear of retirement and death; it is hard not to feel as if these are Allen’s thoughts on his real-life career rather than the one of his character.

The storylines intertwine well and are tied together by a bouncy musical score which sums up the tone of the film entirely; and also the tone of life in Rome itself.

THE BAD

For all its enjoyability and funniness this film is lacking in any sort of depth. There are so many characters that they do not quite have enough screentime to become developed and are consequently more caricatures than anything. This helps with the comedy however also makes them forgettable.

The storylines are also disparate at times that the pacing of the film suffers; as the style switches from one genre to another. This makes the film a little bit of mess (as can be expected from this sort of film).

ALLEN SCALE

The film does relatively well on the Allen score. I elected to only give a quarter point for acting as Allen only appears in one of the four storylines.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To Rome With Love is a good bit of fluffy cinema; a comedy that you could watch easily and enjoy. However the entire film does feel utterly forgettable and come the end of this challenge I doubt it will be one of the first films that springs to my mind. I therefore award the film 3 out 5 which when added to the score from the Allen scale gives this film an overall of 6 Woody’s.

     

WOODY ALLEN CHALLENGE WEEK 1 – BLUE JASMINE

So after a brief hiatus following my David Lynch challenge I’ve begun my next challenge, which is to watch ever Woody Allen film in reverse order (just for a change). As Woody does not always act, write and direct his films I’ve decided to go for films in which he is credited in two of three roles to give me a wider range of films to watch whilst making sure that each film is a Woody Allen picture. The first week’s film was the recently released Blue Jasmine.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Blue Jasmine follows Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) a lady who married rich and enjoyed a life of money and no work. When she loses everything she begins to suffer from depression and mental illness and is forced to move in with her adoptive sister (Sally Hawkins) on the poor side of San Francisco; something which both girls struggle to adapt to.

THE GOOD

The film is a delight to watch as it portrays the story in a unique and interesting way. It is cleverly written in that very little back story is explained yet it is instantly obvious what has happened. It is a strange balance of being completely unpredictable yet also predictable at the same time; which is something rare in a modern film.

The actors in the film are all cast perfectly and portray their characters exactly as you can imagine them being written; the stand out being Cate Blanchetts descent into craziness and Alec Baldwin (essentially playing an exaggerated persona of himself).

There are many comic moments in the film that balance out the drama and it is amazing how in one scene Allen can shift the perception of a character in one scene; turning a nice character into an evil one and back within just a few minutes of screen times.

THE BAD

Watching the film and thinking of it now, I honestly struggle to name an aspect which I didn’t enjoy… it was well paced, scripted and performed with the only negative point I could come up with being that at times it was unclear whether certain scenes where dark comedy or pure drama.

Watching the film in a cinema there where several scenes that got members of the audience (myself included) laughing; whilst other people (the friend I was with) acted much more seriously. Discussion after the film led me to believe that it was written purposefully in each way and cannot be defined as a bad point.

ALLEN SCALE

As a new feature I’ve decided to create a little scale to register the quality of the film based on Allen trademarks. The table below shows 10 characteristics typically seen in one of his films and a score is made for each. This total will be halved and added to my personal score to give each film a score out of 10.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Many people dub this film Woody Allen’s best in years and whilst I do not fully agree (being a huge fan of Midnight in Paris); it is an astounding piece of cinema which must be given five Woodys. Which when added to the Allen score of 2.25 (rounded down to 2) gives the film a score of 7 Woody’s.