Whatever, Woody!

Oh, Woody Allen, how you inspire handwringing. We’ve been devoted fans since at least Annie Hall‚ but the guy kinda went off the rails with the throwaway murder mysteries and the marriage to Soon-Yi. Some of Woody’s recent films‚ like last year’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona‚ have given us a glimpse of the old master back in action, and now — hallelujah! — he’s returned to his home turf of Manhattan with a full-on‚ old-fashioned Woody comedy‚ Whatever Works (opening June 19 in NYC and Los Angeles). 

Once you put aside the ick factor of watching a crotchety old guy jettison his age- and intellect-appropriate female equal in favor of a barely legal moron in Daisy Dukes‚ there’s plenty in Whatever Works to truly savor. Larry David‚ in "the Woody Allen role‚” is a misanthropic physicist who gets involved with a young Southerner named Melody St. Anne Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood). Patricia Clarkson gives — as usual — a film-stealing performance as Melody’s mother. And a heart-melting Henry Cavill — he of The Tudors — is the other man in love with Melody. Sigh.

But what really makes this movie transcend the morally questionable layers and a few shrill Larry David moments: It’s damn funny and surprisingly sweet. As Woody himself might say: Whatever works.


Whatever Works opens June 19 in New York and Los Angeles.