Another Woody Allen movie and as delightful as the others. I propose to see a whole bunch now.
The entire movie hinges on an ageing, separated woman who seeks help from a fortune teller and is told that she might find love. Now the rest of the cast - her daughter, her son-in-law, her ex-husband - humour her initially but do not believe that any such good things are in store for poor, drab her. As it turns out the smarter bunch, her daughter falls for her boss, her son-in-law, a failed writer falls for a neiighbour who breaks off her engagement for him, her husband falls for a hooker who cleans him out and gets pregnant by someone else.
Woody Allen is brilliant at this. He makes the son-in-law (who hates his mother-in-law despite the fact that she pays his rent) fall in love in a breach of trust and even try to pass of a dying friend's first novel as his own, fall hard on both counts. The daughter who falls for her boss and wants to start her own art house gets no money because the fortune teller has told her mother not to lend any. The husband gets beaten up and cleaned out by the hooker. And in the end, the mother does find her tall, dark stranger.
All the good guys, the meek guys, the Woody Allens as we see him in his movies win in the end - the mother for instance. All the dishonest and disbelieving people get their comeuppance for their lack of belief and deceit. Wonderfully scripted. How does he do this so often and so well? Good stuff by Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Banderas, Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts, Gemma Jones and Frieda Pinto.
The entire movie hinges on an ageing, separated woman who seeks help from a fortune teller and is told that she might find love. Now the rest of the cast - her daughter, her son-in-law, her ex-husband - humour her initially but do not believe that any such good things are in store for poor, drab her. As it turns out the smarter bunch, her daughter falls for her boss, her son-in-law, a failed writer falls for a neiighbour who breaks off her engagement for him, her husband falls for a hooker who cleans him out and gets pregnant by someone else.
Woody Allen is brilliant at this. He makes the son-in-law (who hates his mother-in-law despite the fact that she pays his rent) fall in love in a breach of trust and even try to pass of a dying friend's first novel as his own, fall hard on both counts. The daughter who falls for her boss and wants to start her own art house gets no money because the fortune teller has told her mother not to lend any. The husband gets beaten up and cleaned out by the hooker. And in the end, the mother does find her tall, dark stranger.
All the good guys, the meek guys, the Woody Allens as we see him in his movies win in the end - the mother for instance. All the dishonest and disbelieving people get their comeuppance for their lack of belief and deceit. Wonderfully scripted. How does he do this so often and so well? Good stuff by Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Banderas, Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts, Gemma Jones and Frieda Pinto.
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