WOODY ALLEN

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB

USA/France/United Kingdom, 2003.  DreamWorks, Gravier Productions, Canal+, Granada Film Productions, Perdido Productions.  Screenplay by Woody Allen.  Cinematography by Darius Khondji.  Produced by Letty Aronson.  Production Design by Santo Loquasto.  Costume Design by Regina Graves.  Film Editing by Alisa Lepselter.  

Woody Allen has hit an all-time career low with this absolutely despicable comedy. Jason Biggs stars as a fledgling comedy writer who has trouble leaving people behind, even when they’re not at all good for him. His girlfriend (Christina Ricci) takes advantage of his availability, while his manager (Danny DeVito) is a no-good hack who is taking his career nowhere fast.

Off to the side is his friendship with an older comedy writer (Allen) who is constantly encouraging him to take his life by the horns and get himself to a better place.  This is an example of the worst of Allen’s later screenplays:  the women are either evil or cracked beyond redemption, while the men are all hapless victims who just can’t help who they are.  No one is worth paying much attention to despite the good work being done by all the actors.