Whatever Works

I can't really put this up as a full review because it's already been out a couple weeks, but I do want to give a quick take on "Whatever Works," the Woody Allen movie starring Larry David, momentous for being a meeting of comedic minds.

I enjoyed a lot of the film, but I have to say, that especially for those who are more fans of David, it really loses steam after the first half, when David's character gets sidelined for awhile as Allen's script gets more into the machinations involving the other characters. This is after David, with his trademark dark comic bile, has thoroughly energized and sparked the movie, especially with a few long rants delivered directly into the camera, speaking purposefully to the audience with a knowing wink.

What could have been a four or five-star movie starts to fall a bit short of that, and closer to the category of being a more minor Woody Allen work, as the focus strays away from David. It turns out to be more of an entertaining experiment and less momentous as a movie than "Vicky Christina Barcelona" or "Match Point," out of Allen's recent films.