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I’m a moderately-sized Woody Allen fan, and I can say with a modicum of authority that Whatever Works is not one of his better films. I loved the film’s running gag of breaking of the fourth wall—a Woody Allen first (to my knowledge)—but I felt the script was lacking. The wittiness that The New York Observer’s Sara Vilkomerson attributes to Whatever Works feels very stiff to me. There are quite a few funny moments, and I adore Larry David’s performances in Curb Your Enthusiasm, but here I’m going to regurgitate the word “lacking” once again. Reflected in this film is that usual neurotic pessimism and pseudo-witty banter common in all his films (this time however, I’m not convinced it can be labelled “witty”), but it looked forced. It felt like Allen’s return to the New York comedy just isn’t what it should be. It’s…what’s that word again? Oh yes: lacking. So if you like his films and can’t stay away, you’ve been warned. Hey, whatever works.

Whatever Works was, in many respects, a very watchable film but in light of the fact that it’s a Woody Allen film, which I naively always expect to be wonderful…this film’s motto “whatever works” didn’t, well….work. It seems to be as though Mr. Allen is running out of topics to delve into and while I realize that even his classics all had similar themes, this movie is dry, and lacks the life or vivacious nature of films like Manhattan and even one of his most recent Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I enjoyed Larry David…in moments, but it does get tiring to see the same actors doing the same things with the same mannerisms (and no, I don’t have anything against Curb Your Enthusiasm) bumble about in New York. My favorite parts were the exchanges between the motherly Patricia Clarkson and Larry David, reveling in the absurdity that is the marriage between David’s character and Rachel Wood. She got on my nerves like no other, but Henry Cavill was a nice surprise, though I rather prefer him with his native accent.

When the end credits rolled however, despite however many negative comments I had throughout the movie, I felt as if it was an okay-worthy film that has some good small appearances from the likes of McKean, and a bit of good monologue work here and there. I guess nowadays for Woody Allen, he truly does believe the mantra he parades with throughout the entirety of this flick…”whatever works!”

After a second viewing I really warmed up to this movie. In Whatever Works, there is a lot of ground Woody Allen has clearly covered before, but there is just as much he hasn’t. I think those who feel it is self obsessive and supercilious may be missing something, because I feel it is more inwardly-critical than anything. Woody uses Whatever Works to challenge every opinion he’s ever expressed through cinema, proposing how trivial it is to worry about what can never be changed. At the end of the film, the verbose Boris, with an absurdly exaggerated sense of self is left to realize that for all of his accomplishments and self proclaimed genius, he has nothing more than anyone else (in fact he in many ways has less.) His obsession with cliches is ironic because he himself is a walking cliche. Everything he loathes about the world is a conflict within himself to a degree. Allen suggests that those who claim to be the most open-minded are quite often just as closed minded as anyone else. He also sends an interesting message to the youth of the world, and I’m assuming so-called intellectual youth more than anyone else. He reminds them not to idolize those who claim to know everything, because they themselves know nothing in the bigger picture. Both Boris and Melody are doses of reality for each other, a theme I found to be under developed in Manhattan, and was glad to see it further cultivated. They both act as transitional points for one another. Boris prepares Melody for the future by familiarizing her with the proper bitterness necessary to exist in this era without cracking, while Melody brings Boris to come to terms with his mortality, and shows him to use the time he has to his advantage. As always, Woody has loaded the film with insightful humor and countless moments that require analysis of detail. There is a lot going on in Whatever Works, and I personally think this is the best thing Woody has made in a long time. Should it have not been made by him, nor starred Larry David, I’m sure the critical reception would have been much more favorable. It left me with a very somber feeling, something that very few films have done for me in recent years. For that among other things, I give it 4 stars.

What I love about whatever works is that no matter how unlikeable, stupid, or whimsical the characters are they seem to truly find themselves in New York. Who is better qualified to deliver that message than the old exile Mr. Woody Allen himself? So what about this Larry David character showing up in a Woody Allen flick? Will it blow your mind? Probably not and that’s probably why people are probably getting a little underwhelmed by the movie but I found some kind of relief from seeing a good old fashioned funny picture. After a great decade why not a few lighthearted, zany comedies?

WHATEVER.
Whenever not epitomizing the role himself, Woody Allen has always found appropriate actors to portray his neurotic, obsessive, and pessimistic protagonists. I stress that Allen is the only one really fit for these roles because he is essentially playing himself, but John Cusack seemed to work alright, and now equally neurotic Larry David is giving it a shot, perhaps to better represent Allen’s age. On paper he seems a great fit. What have become known as the “Larry David moments” of Curb Your Enthusiasm could theoretically work well under Allen’s witful direction. But Whatever Works isn’t a film about Larry David moments, despite the actor’s declamatory presence. David’s deliveries feel forced, and his chemistry with the other actors is generally awkward, in such a way that it’s more like watching a screenplay than a movie.

However, I kept wondering whether or not this was intentional. Is the script supposed to feel so obtrusive? Jokes are obvious and by the climax the characters are all tidied up uncharacteristically neatly for an Allen film. David’s character, Boris Yelnikoff, even turns to the audience to deliver a denouement so no one is left behind. He actually breaks the fourth wall frequently throughout the film, each time the rest of the cast, interestingly, aware of his apparent soliloquies, yet unaware of us, the film-watchers. He must look insane, and maybe he is. Boris is frequently named and self-proclaimed a genius, but history has shown that the line between genius and insanity is a fine one. Maybe that’s why he’s such a misanthrope?

This is all too absurd to be taken seriously or at face value, so I’ll give Allen the benefit of the doubt and say he was being subversive. The point? No idea, so I’ll end this review in similar fashion:

“Whatever Works”? Well, it kind of does. Whatever works for you, Woody.

Larry David is a humorless, cheap imitation of Woody Allen. He plays Boris, a sarcastic Nobel-level thinker misanthrope physicist who, against all odds, helps a simple minded Southern girl to get by in the Big Apple. Although the only thing they have in common is Fred Astaire, the opposites attract and they get married. After a year her separated parents come into town and everything starts to fall apart (and then to fall into place again). Whatever Works is a movie about love, the arbitrary that rules our lives, human evolution, relationships and sexual awareness. As Larry David’s character says: This is not the feel good movie of the year. So if you’re one of those idiots who needs to feel good… go get yourself a foot massage. All’s Well That Ends Well, no?

The film feels more like a play then a film just a play that uses a lot of exterior locations. Not that good of a play but a ok farce. The film just feels lazy like it has no energy. Which is a shame as it was coming off a Actual good film VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA

The main Attraction to see the Film is star Larry David but the results are not quite as good as you would think it would be. While playing a character it’s not too much a departure from him playing himself. Only here he is more of a downer and a scientist.
Usually in films the main character is supposed to change or at least learn a lesson from the beginning to the end. Here his character is basically the same and learns nothing. He just changes his outlook a bit.

The Film is about a cynical Scientist who decides to take in a southern runaway and marries her then all of a sudden her parents come to new york to be reunited with her and take her back home and find themselves under the spell of New York to change there lives and be there true selves.

Woody Allen has said that this was not a new script he wrote recently but a script he wrote in the seventies that he never really finished so he stuck it in a drawer and only recently found it and finished it. Maybe there was a good reason he hid it away back then. He was a lot sharper of mind and probably realized it wasn’t that good or original so e hid it away now he seems to be running out of steam so he finally makes it because he really can’t think of anything. That is also how the film plays no insight or effort it just lays there. While some of the ideas are still there and funny it feels uninspired.

One of the main problems of the film is that there never seems to be anything at risk for any of the characters in any way shape or form. No emotional changes they just seem to exist and very few things happen then they change slightly. The only real change is in lifestyle for the two supporting characters who come to New York and stop being repressed and open up to a new lifestyle. Yet it happens so quick and gimmicky it just feels false.

Even the ending is too neatly wrapped up in a cute cookie cutter kind of way.

I am a huge woody Allen fan and a big Larry David film and found this disappointing not as bad as Allen’s recent dreadful output but not too much better either. As usual it has it’s charms but if the film was made by any other director it would be considered subpar. It’s only noteworthy because of Mr. Allen and Mr. David. Watch only if you are a completist.

The marriage of the talents of Woody Allen and Larry David seems like one that is both perfect and abominable at the same time. Aside from the fact that they both have two first names, they are both comedians with a self-deprecating sense of humor and both have a huge fan base with massive cross-over appeal, as most fans of David’s machinations are inevitably going to be fans of Allen’s work. The problem is that it almost seems like too much of a fan’s wet dream to actually work. Most would agree that Allen’s output lately has been spotty, and while MATCH POINT and VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA were both critically acclaimed, they are both best described as unoriginal and boring, with Allen plagiarizing himself in the former, and borrowing from the French New Wave in the latter. However neither were really comedies, and his comedic output has been a much bleaker affair as of late, as neither SCOOP nor MELINDA AND MELINDA had much to offer in the way of big laughs. WHATEVER WORKS was supposedly written during Allen’s strongest period in the late seventies, when he was making films like ANNIE HALL and MANHATTAN. This is apparent when watching the film because it almost feels like a throwback to that era of his career. David’s character chit-chats with the audience and openly acknowledges us during the opening scene, not unlike his musings with the audience during ANNIE HALL. There are a few fun twists added, but the spirit is there.
The plot centers around Boris Yellnikoff (David), a misanthropic self-proclaimed genius who compares those around him with worms and microbes, essentially making him a cartoonish New York intellectual stereotype. He meets a cartoonish Southern stereotype played by Evan Rachel Wood, and their mutual cartoonishness leads to a major contrast that can only lead to an opposites-attract scenario. Wood’s character is the worst kind of Southern stereotype, as she is a Southern baptist who loves Jesus and reminisces about losing her virginity behind a tent during a fish-fry, something that Allen must think happens often down here. Normally I would bitch about a character like this more, but pretty much all of the characters in this film are stereotypes of some sort, even if it does imply that coming to New York opens the mind of us universally dumb Southern crackers.
I didn’t expect to care for this movie at all given what I knew about it, however I was pleasantly surprised by how funny it ended up being. Despite my issues, I laughed out loud at this movie more than any comedy he’s done as of late. It sounds like a glass of water in the desert scenario, but I did find a lot of the situations in this movie to be genuinely funny, and I was quite satisfied in the end, even given my reservations. Allen indulges in his usual habit of explaining the themes of the film at the end of the movie for those of us in the back row (or possibly us dumb Southern crackers), but the scene felt like a nice capper since this movie isn’t exactly subtle. If you’re unfamiliar with Allen’s work, go see some of his good films, if you’re a fan of Allen or David, check it out.

Despite the fact that this film is just like any other Woody Allen film, it’s darn funny. Patricia Clarkson and Evan Rachel Wood have both have lots better roles, but are fun to watch. Larry David plays the Woody Allen role, breaks the fourth wall, and is a lot of fun overall. That’s saying a lot, since I don’t usually follow Curb Your Enthusiasm! Anyway, if you’ve ever remotely liked Woody Allen, you’d probably get a kick out of this film at least.