Whatever Works

Whatever Works

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2010 Woody Allen returns to Manhattan and his angst-ridden roots with this fun farce about happiness and accepting it when it comes. The main character is a 60-ish misanthrope named Boris Yellnikoff, a brilliant nuclear physicist once “almost nominated for a Nobel Prize.” Boris is played by Larry David […]

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Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2010

©2009 GRAVIER PRODUCTIONS, INC.

Woody Allen returns to Manhattan and his angst-ridden roots with this fun farce about happiness and accepting it when it comes. The main character is a 60-ish misanthrope named Boris Yellnikoff, a brilliant nuclear physicist once “almost nominated for a Nobel Prize.” Boris is played by Larry David (creator of Seinfeld and the writer/star of Curb Your Enthusiasm), and it’s a wonder that Woody hasn’t tapped this verbose noodge earlier for the “Woody Allen role.” One night, quite uncharacteristically, he takes in a homeless runaway (a spot-on Evan Rachel Wood) fleeing her Southern stage mom and her beauty pageants. Despite a 40-year age gap, they soon marry. And they’re happy. Whatever works, see? Then her divorced mom and dad (Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley, Jr.) separately track her down, and they in turn discover their true selves in The Big Apple by accepting (see title). I chuckled continuously at this dialogue-driven comedy, and I think it’s Allen’s best film in years. Not everyone shares this view, but they could lighten up and enjoy some vintage Allen (script originally written in the ’70s). I liked it because—wait for it—it worked for me.