Whatever Works
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Whatever Works
A pessimistic New York grouch (Larry David) finds his life transformed when he reluctantly shelters a homeless but irrepressibly cheerful young Southerner (Evan Rachel Wood), and they fall for each other. Though undeniably clever at times, writer-director Woody Allen's comedy of manners mocks evangelical Christians through the waif's parents (Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr.) and heavy-handedly rams home the message that, in a meaningless universe, any path to temporary fulfillment, particularly that of unbridled sexuality, ought to be pursued. Adultery, implied group sex and homosexual activity, images of full nudity, a suicide theme, some sexual humor, at least one crude and one crass word, and about a dozen uses of profanity. O -- morally offensive. (PG-13) 2009
Whatever Works (Full Review)
Though undeniably clever at times, writer-director Woody Allen's latest project, "Whatever Works" (Sony Pictures Classics), a comedy of contrasting manners, heavy-handedly reinforces his long-standing claim that the universe is meaningless.
Further, the script encourages viewers to pursue any path they can toward temporary fulfillment, particularly that of unbridled sexuality, as long as they refrain from harming others.
Originally written for the late Zero Mostel, and shelved after the actor's death in 1977, "Whatever Works" now stars Larry David, the "Seinfeld" co-creator and comic actor best known for HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." He plays Boris Yellnikoff, a New York grouch and former physics professor for whom life is a "pointless black chaos."
Boris ekes out a living teaching chess, but his favorite pursuit is insulting everyone within earshot, his hapless students included. So when Melody (Evan Rachel Wood), a homeless but irrepressibly cheerful young Southerner, appears outside his apartment building asking for shelter, he reluctantly acquiesces, but informs her that she's a moron who won't last a day in Gotham.
Melody manages to see the good lurking behind Boris' grumpy facade, develops a crush on him and the unlikely couple eventually wed. A year of relative contentment is interrupted by the arrival of Melody's starchy mother, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson), who announces that Melody's father, John (Ed Begley Jr.), has run off with her best friend.
The metropolis rapidly transforms the evangelical Marietta, whose quickly abandoned faith Allen mocks, turning her into a hip photographer involved in a three-way relationship with gallery owner Al (Olek Krupa) and Boris' friend, Leo (Conleth Hill). Dad also eventually appears, after the breakup of his affair, and undergoes his own change of lifestyle rooted in his remembered affection for a fellow player on his high school football team.
The one thing that remains constant in Marietta's life is her dislike of Boris, and she constantly urges Melody to dump him for someone more suitable. When young and thoroughly presentable Randy Lee James (Henry Cavill) approaches Marietta at a restaurant to confess that he's fallen for Melody at first sight, she encourages an adulterous affair.
David rises to the challenge of making the acerbic and infantile Boris at least bearable, and Clarkson carefully gauges Marietta's evolving personality from Tennessee Williams heroine to urban sophisticate. But Wood is limited by the basic implausibility of her part as the wide-eyed waif.
Though overall the result of Allen and David's collaboration falls short of its potential, the device of having Boris address the audience directly several times works well. And, since all the other characters insist that there's no one out there watching them -- just as they insist that there's no God -- these moments can be interpreted as undercutting the script's ostensibly ironclad atheism.
The film contains adultery, implied group sex and homosexual activity, images of full nudity, a suicide theme, some sexual humor, at least one crude and one crass word, and about a dozen uses of profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.