BEFORE: I was starting to make some headway in reducing the watchlist, I got it down 2 more notches to 198, which is always a sign to me that I'm going to get hit with a flood of new available films. Sure enough, my cable company just added the ePix channels to the premium line-up, and now I see where some of the biggest releases from the last two years have been hiding. Simple tip to become relevant in the distribution: just buy up a bunch of something, and keep buying until other companies have to deal with you. There's that most recent "Mission: Impossible" film, along with that "Hansel & Gretel" movie, that Sacha Baron Cohen "Dictator" film, and "Young Adult", all of which were on my list, and some more to boot.
Linking from "Melinda and Melinda", Will Ferrell was also in "The Campaign" with Brian Cox (last seen in "Troy"). I'm lucky yet again.
THE PLOT: At a turning point in his life, a former tennis pro falls for a femme-fatale type who happens to be dating his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law.
AFTER: I've heard that Woody's career got invigorated once he started making films outside of NYC, and I'm starting to agree with that concept. It's funny that the main character in "Anything Else" wanted to get out of NYC and start fresh writing in L.A., and I wonder if secretly that's what Woody wanted as well.
He was still fascinated by the upper class when he made this one - and upper-class Brits are probably very similar to upper-class New Yorkers - they work in finance, they play tennis, they go to shows, they agonize over their marriages and affairs. But they're just on another level somehow - they're classier. So at the same time these are familiar characters, but also fresh ones.
It's the same old dilemma I've seen time and time again in Woody's films - the lead male is married to one woman, but sexually attracted to another. And of course it doesn't seem like NOT having an affair is a valid option (how boring would that make the movie?). Chris Wilton, the tennis pro, is attracted to a woman who's about to become his sister-in-law - that hearkens back to "Hannah and Her Sisters", right? With the same problems - should he end things with his wife, to really devote himself to the new relationship, or end things with the girlfriend and re-connect with his wife? Or, as a third option, just keep stringing both of them along until a solution presents itself.
Well, that's kind of what happens here, only the solution is quite drastic and shocking, and I've probably said too much already. (and if I name the other Woody Allen film this is a throwback to, that will say too much as well...) I feel that the other possible solutions would be simpler, and therefore preferable, but then again, people don't always act rationally when it comes to affairs of the heart. So after this something happens, the question then becomes - was it a valid solution?
Although it seems possible, and therefore rings somewhat true, it hinges on luck, which becomes just as much of a contrivance as Allen's previous ones, like magic or hypnosis. You can't grasp luck, you can't plan for it, you can't account for it - lucky things either happen or they don't. And when luck strikes, it's almost a magical effect, as well as a convenient plot point.
Still, I maintain that a little something got lost in the shuffle. A small thing, but something that would have been, should have been, noticed and accounted for. I can't specify any further without spoiling the plot - but I want to make note of it here, that I remembered this tiny thing, even if every character in the film that was aware of it seemed to gloss over it. Unless one particular character was lying about its existence, which is possible - that would explain a lot, but this wasn't clarified either.
If this film represents a turn in Woody Allen's career, then it's one that I approve of. Even when the film goes off in a strange direction, it's a bold one that ends up mostly making sense.
Also starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers (last seen in "Vanity Fair"), Scarlett Johansson (last seen in "We Bought a Zoo"), Emily Mortimer (last seen in "Hugo"), Matthew Goode, Rupert Penry-Jones (last seen in "Red Tails"), Penelope Wilton (last seen in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"), James Nesbitt, Ewen Bremner.
RATING: 6 out of 10 opera tickets
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