The Airportline: Observations

I saw Whatever Works, Woody Allen’s latest movie, yesterday. The reviews have been mixed, both from friends and trusted writers. And even though it had its funny sides, and gave New York the great look it always gets from the eye of Woody, with its grand apartments, outdoor lunches and general visual pleasantness, it fails to reach high enough both regarding the comedy and acting. In the middle of the story an old Nobel price nominee with a death wish, played by Larry David, walks around. The story revolves on around the theme of luck and chance and portrays New York as the intellectual haven that can even make conservative swamp idiots into successful sexually liberated artists. People fall into each others lives, fall in love and out of love and turn gay and yeah, Woody made sure to press in so many parallel lives and stories in one and a half hours it is no wonder that it leaves you feeling a bit cheated. With so much life drama the characters never become more than comedic staples to turn the never stopping plot from racing through relationships and people as a normal Woody Allen movie on crack.

Even though its a nice movie I lack the emotional intenseness, the complex relationships and the characters in Woody’s best works. This is of course intended to be a light comedy, but it feels a bit rushed, a bit too loose and comfortable, and even though Larry David fits the bill as some kind of complaining Jewish math genius, his lack of any emotional engagement becomes tiring in the long run and feels misplaced and simplified when it suddenly arrives. While I would like to like this movie it simply reminded me of previous great Woody movies, but unfortunately it never managed to step out from the shade of its older cousins. Like ‘A O Scott’ (what kind of name is that?!) wrote in The New York Times:
‘Mr. Allen’s imagination has returned to Manhattan after that invigorating European sojourn afflicted by an extreme case of jet lag.’