“You live and learn or you live and get dumb.”

–Lorrie Moore, “You’re Ugly, Too.”

Life. In all of its twisty excursions, what life brings to people is a plot that sometimes offers strange and unusual solutions. What one “sees” is what one never gets. And in Woody Allen’s latest and forty third directorial film, Whatever Works, the solutions it brings to its characters in this romantic comedy brings in some rather tepid results.

Filmed and shot in New York City–a slight departure (and now return) from Allen’s previous films shot in London (Scoop and Matchpoint) and Spain (Vicky Christina Barcelona–by far, one of his strongest works in recent years)–Whatever Works, as in most of Allen’s films, features an ensemble of famous and infamous actors on screen. In typical curmudgeon fashion, Larry David plays Boris Yellnikoff: a misanthropic and retired Columbia University professor of physics (not to mention, as he claims, a former Nobel Prize finalist) who escapes his failed marriage and affluent life and dives into the bohemian side of living in Greenwich Village. He finds solace with neighborhood buddies, buys groceries and dressed in a disheveled way and–despite Boris’ unabashed commentary–instructs youngsters on the art of chess playing. In fact, Boris enjoys his bleak life until he stumbles upon meeting Melodie (a young and clueless runaway from Mississippi played by Evan Rachel Wood) right outside his doorstep. After refusing to invite Melodie into his loft, Boris gives in and establishes a tender relationship in which he inevitably marries her.

What ensues throughout the film is a series of topsy-turvy and humorous circumstances: Melodie’s mother, Marietta (played by Patricia Clarkson), comes to Manhattan to search for her daughter, strangely accepts Melodie’s recent marriage, and falls into the claptrap of New York City life by transforming herself into a sexually voracious woman and artist; Marietta’s god-fearing ex-husband John (played by Ed Begley Jr.) also escapes to New York in hopes of rectifying his previous marriage and relationship with Melodie but, in turns, meets a local guy in a bar and becomes a closeted homosexual. As for Boris and Melodie’s marriage, the relationship ends after Melodie is clandestinely set-up (?) with a younger chap from Marietta in which, as it turns out, Boris unwillingly accepts.

The problem with Allen’s recent oeuvre is, although sarcastically presented, is that its subliminal commentary on Southern culture and manners seem slightly over-the-top and predictable. In reverse, Whatever Works also directly pokes fun at New York City culture: its self-righteous artists, its holier-than-thou egotism, and its bitter attitude towards outsiders. As one would gather in most Woody Allen films, Whatever Works operates on the same level viewers have seen in previous films: the kvetching shtick displayed from an atypical protagonist, the clueless femme who falls for the narcissistic protagonist, the self-reflexive filmmaking technique (i.e. characters talking directly to the viewer, etc). What the viewer receives in Whatever Works is that one must accept and deal with fate, chance, and, of course, life’s unexpected turns. Whatever Works must simply work. But, as a fan of Allen’s work, it simply does not.

In a recent interview with Teri Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air (which you can listen here), Allen initially wrote the screenplay during the 1970s and the leading role was intended for Tony Award winning actor Zero Mostel who passed away in 1977 (Mostel’s death coincided with the release of Allen’s seminal comedy Annie Hall). Forward to four decades later, Allen dusted off the screenplay and decided to give it one last shot. Despite the film’s irreverent yet truthful musings on life from Mr. David, Whatever Works, frankly, should have remain undisclosed.

Tags: Annie Hall, Comedy, Evan Rachel Wood, Film, Larry David, Matchpoint, Micheal McKean, New York, Patricia Clarkson, Scoop, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen, Zero Mostel