(back)

At the Movies
with Mark Moorehead

Film:  Hollywood Ending

Cast:  Woody Allen, Tea Leoni, George Hamilton, Debra Messing, Treat Williams

Rated:  PG-13

Director: Wood Allen

Now Playing:  Harkins Chandler Fashion 20, Harkins Arizona Mills

Viewability Rating:  *** (worth a look)

 

Being a Woody Allen fan will make you go Bananas. It’s a love-hate relationship.  You hate it when you see Allen kissing a drop dead gorgeous love interest thirty years younger and love it when he deadpans those hilarious one-liners. So why does the sight of Mr. Allen kissing a woman young enough to be his granddaughter bother us? Because it’s too preposterous and breaks the spell of believability.  On the other hand, why do we continue watching a movie with such absurd pairings and a corny script? It’s simple; Woody’s the same gnome looking, neurotic and flawed character we have come to love or hate for decades and his buffoonery is still unpredictable and funny. And, we love the stinging wit that only Allen within his New York City environs is capable of delivering.

Hollywood Ending is a story of a washed-up, neurotic director Val Waxman (played by Wood Allen) in desperate need of a comeback.  His ex-wife Ellie (played by Tea Leoni) still has feeling for him and talks her studio head husband (played by Treat Williams) into bankrolling a new film. Pressure to succeed with this manna from heaven opportunity and the painful reunion with his ex-wife proves to be too much and Val becomes psychologically and figuratively blinded as the shooting begins.  This sets up the comic scenes that follow as Val gropes around pretending to see with the help of a Chinese interpreter. 

Love is blind too as Val’s ex-wife Ellie overlooks the amateurish, butchered and disconnected scenes shot by a blind man she still cares deeply for in spite of Val’s too young and dumb actress wannabe and live-in girlfriend Lori (played by Debra Messing).

Tea Leoni does a fine job portraying a Diane Keaton type character and quirky Woody Allen counterpart who never seems to have her feet firmly planted on the ground. Debra Messing is a convincing trailer trash type gold digger willing to do anything to claim a little fame. But, even this pairing stretches the lines of believability.  Allen should have cast an odd looking, quirky young, aspiring actress.  It would have made the film much funnier.

Everything you always wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask is available in this film. Sex is always on Woody’s mind and as this is a family publication I can’t print some of the more side-splitting lines he delivers in unpredictable fashion.  However, in a tamer discussion of this subject Ellie asks Val how is he is able to tolerate conversations with airhead girlfriends like Lori. Val downplays the importance of intimate small talk by replying as a matter of fact “talk is what you suffer through to get to sex”.   There are plenty more lines like this in Hollywood Ending.

Woody Allen films of late are akin to another bad day at the golf course. But, why do we go back?  Ask any golfer this question and his or her answer will go something like this: Well, the first 17 holes didn’t go very well, but I birdied the 18th after a perfect drive you had to see to believe.  That one triumphant hole will bring you back. Convenient amnesia allows us to forget about the bad parts of the game. The same is true for Hollywood Ending. Yes, the slow scenes are a sure cure for insomnia, but after you leave the theatre you’ll only remember the scenes where you laughed out loud and that’s a classic Hollywood ending.

                     (back)