Tonight the role of Woody Allen will be played by Kenneth Branagh.
Woody Allen is one of those inescapable Hollywood icons. He's been around for a long time and made enough of a name for himself that he can weather a huge scandal and go right on making movies, and people go see those movies because they are Woody Allen movies. Now, I am not particularly well steeped in the lore or even the work of Woody Allen. The movies that made him famous I saw when I was far too young to appreciate them. Annie Hall sits in my DVD collection unwatched. I keep planning to get around to it.
Recently I have watched two much newer Woody Allen movies. Match Point is an elegant film
about interconnected relationships and the potential effects of obsession. Wanting what you can't have but getting it, or most of it, anyway. Three of the four main characters are straightforward. Not perfect, but likeable. The fourth character is never clear. Is he completely devious, two-faced and self-serving or just incredibly susceptible to temptation? I found it impossible to decide. The fact that the character was played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers was distracting because he looks and sounds so much like Joaquin Phoenix, who I find creepy and sinister.
Then there is Celebrity in which the part of Woody Allen is apparently played by Kenneth Branagh, who is most famous for giving amazing performances in numerous film productions of Shakespeare plays. I don't know if it is a credit to him that he can do such a thorough imitation of the master that all I could do was notice that he wasn't actually Woody Allen. If the part was so clearly Woody Allen with the stuttering and stumbling and the hand gestures and the slouch, why wasn't Woody Allen playing the part?
It doesn't help that the character is pretty much a slime ball. He likes women and can even get women to like him, but he avoids commitment just in case something better might come along. The blurb on the rental by mail dvd sleeve says "A neurotic magazine writer sets out to write about the nature of celebrity and becomes entranced by the lifestyles he sees around him." Well, sort of. When we first meet him, he is already entranced. He desperately wants to be one of the beautiful people, or at least be accepted by them, but he can't get out of his own way. In fact, it seems pretty clear that he deliberately sabotages any possibilities of success. It's odd, and not particularly interesting. Much more interesting is the journey of the wife he dumps after sixteen years of marriage. She has to get through her pain and anger and frustration and insecurities and learn that it *is* possible to improve herself, have a better life, and be happy. Judy Davis gives a wonderful, real, sensitive performance. Branagh just makes a fool of himself.
The movie looks like an allegory for what might be Mia Farrow's revenge. She (her character
anyway) moves on to a successful career and remarries happily, while her philandering
imbecile of an ex-husband ends up going nowhere.
Woody Allen is one of those inescapable Hollywood icons. He's been around for a long time and made enough of a name for himself that he can weather a huge scandal and go right on making movies, and people go see those movies because they are Woody Allen movies. Now, I am not particularly well steeped in the lore or even the work of Woody Allen. The movies that made him famous I saw when I was far too young to appreciate them. Annie Hall sits in my DVD collection unwatched. I keep planning to get around to it.
Recently I have watched two much newer Woody Allen movies. Match Point is an elegant film
about interconnected relationships and the potential effects of obsession. Wanting what you can't have but getting it, or most of it, anyway. Three of the four main characters are straightforward. Not perfect, but likeable. The fourth character is never clear. Is he completely devious, two-faced and self-serving or just incredibly susceptible to temptation? I found it impossible to decide. The fact that the character was played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers was distracting because he looks and sounds so much like Joaquin Phoenix, who I find creepy and sinister.
Then there is Celebrity in which the part of Woody Allen is apparently played by Kenneth Branagh, who is most famous for giving amazing performances in numerous film productions of Shakespeare plays. I don't know if it is a credit to him that he can do such a thorough imitation of the master that all I could do was notice that he wasn't actually Woody Allen. If the part was so clearly Woody Allen with the stuttering and stumbling and the hand gestures and the slouch, why wasn't Woody Allen playing the part?
It doesn't help that the character is pretty much a slime ball. He likes women and can even get women to like him, but he avoids commitment just in case something better might come along. The blurb on the rental by mail dvd sleeve says "A neurotic magazine writer sets out to write about the nature of celebrity and becomes entranced by the lifestyles he sees around him." Well, sort of. When we first meet him, he is already entranced. He desperately wants to be one of the beautiful people, or at least be accepted by them, but he can't get out of his own way. In fact, it seems pretty clear that he deliberately sabotages any possibilities of success. It's odd, and not particularly interesting. Much more interesting is the journey of the wife he dumps after sixteen years of marriage. She has to get through her pain and anger and frustration and insecurities and learn that it *is* possible to improve herself, have a better life, and be happy. Judy Davis gives a wonderful, real, sensitive performance. Branagh just makes a fool of himself.
The movie looks like an allegory for what might be Mia Farrow's revenge. She (her character
anyway) moves on to a successful career and remarries happily, while her philandering
imbecile of an ex-husband ends up going nowhere.
posted by minervasowl | 5:09 PM
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