I absolutely love that Woody Allen often throws little morality tales into his films, and I love it even more when the movies are pretty much morality tales outright. That’s mostly what I’m dealing with in Part Two of The Woody Allen Project, so let’s just get right to it.
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Allen’s latest starts out fine enough, chronicling the love lives of two couples, recently divorced Alfie and Helena (Anthony Hopkins and Gemma Jones) and their daughter, Sally (Naomi Watts) and her husband Roy (Josh Brolin). It’s interesting how he approaches marriage from two different angles, one that’s fallen apart and is destined for reconciliation and one that seems to completely work only to end in tragedy. Alfie seeks comfort (and to recapture his youth) in the arms of a much younger woman, while Helena finds solace in the advice of a fortune teller, pushing her predictions on everyone around her. With their marriage drifting apart, Sally and Roy both begin eyeing other mates, while Roy struggles to finish his latest, long-awaited novel. Allen mechanically weaves through their foibles and fallacies, and even uses a narrator to try and speed along the process. The result feels a bit lazy and hastily put together. The film’s not without its merit, there are a few laughs (and one great performance by Antonio Banderas). Even when Roy meets a fitting end (don’t worry, it’s not death), I really didn’t care.
Small Time Crooks
The first half hour of Small Time Crooks is pretty funny, and occasionally hilarious. Mostly due to Elaine May, John Lovitz and Michael Rappaport. Ray (Woody Allen) and his band of dim-witted thieves decide to tunnel under a bank while Frenchy (Tracey Ullman) runs a bakery cover business above their operation. When the bakery takes off the gang decides to go legit and the movie becomes the story of what happens when white trash strikes it rich. May is the only bit of comedy that makes it to the film’s second half, and she really shines in her scenes. But, the idiots-with-money story that takes up the last hour isn’t really enough to keep you interested. Ultimately though, the message of being happy with who you are is a good one.
Broadway Danny Rose
A hapless talent agent attempts to reconcile his biggest client with his mafia-connected mistress before his big show. What he doesn’t know is that same mistress has convinced the talent to find a better agent. Easily my favorite Woody Allen film so far and one I might revisit quite often. Despite how their relationship ended, there’s no denying the chemistry between Allen and Mia Farrow here. Her too cool for the room attitude works so well with Allen’s nerdiness. And he uses the narration here to great effect. The moral of this one? Do good and good will come back to you.
Shadows and Fog
Possibly Allen’s most star studded film, Shadows and Fog is a brilliant mess. The story, which is mostly about a bookkeeper (Allen) wandering around the streets looking for a serial strangler, is all over the place. Characters are introduced haphazardly and nothing is ever really resolved. But, it works as such a brilliant metaphor for life that I fell in love with it…right up until the crazy ending. Now, I’ll admit that the metaphor didn’t really hit me until well after the credits rolled and I tried to make sense of it all, but once I got it, it just enhanced my love of it. I mentioned the cast, and everyone is exceptional, but they’re all pretty short on screen time. Here’s who shows up during the course of this 85 minute film: David Ogden Stiers, Mia Farrow, James Rebhorn, John Malkovich, Madonna, Daniel von Bargen, Donald Pleasence, Lily Tomlin, Jodie Foster, Kathy Bates, John Cusack, Andy Berman, Fred Melamad, John C. Reilly, Phillip Bosco, Kurtwood Smith, Fred Gwynne, William H. Macy, Wallace Shawn, Julie Kavner, Kenneth Mars, Richard Riehle and of course Allen himself. I guess this one isn’t so much a moral tale as it is that metaphor: we spend our lives wandering around in the fog, trying to make sense of it all, to see how we fit into the plan, stalking our own deaths. People stumble in and out of our scenes, sometimes helping us along the way and occasionally we get to return the kindness. Then there’s the end, where nothing we’ve learned makes any sense and if we’re lucky we get to join the circus as a magician’s apprentice.
