Whatever Works - Review

Woody Allen's career has been so spotty lately that we may be able to call two good movies in a row a "hot streak." On the heels of last year's excellent and sophisticated Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Allen has now returned to his beloved New York City for Whatever Works, a romantic comedy celebrating both the cerebral and the heartfelt -- forces that have been in opposition in nearly all of Allen's best comedies.

Originally written in the late 1970s for actor Zero Mostel, Allen has punched up and updated Whatever Works for 2009, now casting Seinfeld co-creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David, one of the best Woody Allen proxies ever cast. It's not just that he's a Jewish New Yorker -- though that certainly helps (I'm looking at you, Kenneth Branagh) -- it's that he comes by his misanthropy honestly. If Allen's characters have slowly been checking out of society over the years, Larry David is the first guy that convinces us he's capable of doing it; he's a grouch and a bully in a way that Woody Allen himself hasn't been able to pull off (Zero Mostel would have been good, too). In many ways, Whatever Works is one of the best distillations of Allen's obsessions and themes -- for better and for worse -- ever to hit the screen.

David stars as Boris Yellnikoff, a quantum mechanics genius (who was "almost" awarded the Nobel Prize) and miserable S.O.B. who no longer fits in with the "inchworms and cretins" he sees all around him. Boris is the only guy who sees the "big picture," to the point where it causes him panic attacks and once led to an unsuccessful suicide attempt (leaving him with a limp). It also means he's able to break the fourth wall and directly address the audience, though Allen thankfully shows some restraint with this device -- that is, after David delivers a show-stopping and bile-filled monologue in the film's first 10 minutes.

Into Boris's life stumbles Melodie St. Anne Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood), a runaway from Mississippi looking for a place to stay. Before long, she's moved in with Boris and becomes his pupil in intellectual superiority. Everything's going great for the pair -- until Melodie's mother (Patricia Clarkson) shows up with some different ideas of what's best for Melodie.

To say much more about the turns that Whatever Works takes would be to spoil its surprises, and one of the movie's strongest suits is its ability to take us in directions we hadn't anticipated. I'll just say that the rest of the film is about fate and finding love wherever you can while you still can -- whatever love that happens to be. Whatever works.

In his first starring role in a movie, Larry David feels at home (despite a slightly shaky start, more likely a function of the dialogue than of performance). His collaboration with Allen feels at once risky and perfectly right, and he does a better job with Woody's dialogue than many before him. That may be the part he's been given to play; unlike his character on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boris is never sticking his foot in his mouth. He's rude and inappropriate, sure, but always on purpose -- every word is calculated. David's co-star, Evan Rachel Wood, has perhaps the hardest job in the movie, taking a character that's seemingly impossible to play and making her warm and adorable and funny and even believable. Yes, it's yet another older man/younger woman relationship (Allen isn't much interested in reinventing himself), but the two actors make it believable and even, at times, sweet.

It's curious that Allen wrote the screenplay for Whatever Works three decades ago, because it feels in many ways like the film he's been building to for years. Humanity has become almost entirely alien to Boris, who is increasingly panicked by the futility of life and the finality of death; he's an angry guy hiding behind his intellect and verbal abilities. As much as we're meant to pity Boris, there's still a disturbing subtext in the film that simple exposure to some New York intellectualism can "cure" even the most devout of religious conservatives. It's clear that Woody Allen still doesn't understand a lot about the world, but that's largely what Whatever Works is about.

The more I reflect on Whatever Works, the more I like it. It's not at all a perfect movie; it lacks the sophistication and maturity of Vicky Cristina, but finds small truth in its own messiness. For a film so full of vitriol towards humanity, it shows a charming amount of optimism -- even the title suggests a lack of judgment that's really at the heart of the film. As a premise -- young girl moves in with old guy, culture clash ensues -- it's a disaster, but I was surprised at just how invested I became in the happiness of these characters as the film played out. Whatever Works is messy and surprising, but you still know exactly how it's going to end. Just like life.

• Whatever Works is rated PG-13 for sexual situations including dialogue, brief nude images and thematic material.
• Running Time: 92 minutes
• Release Date: June 19, 2009
• Studio: Sony Pictures Classics