It’s one of the great wonders and mysteries of the movies: How an actor, writer, director can make a great film one year and then their next picture can be an utter failure. Last year, Woody Allen pulled-off a remarkable comeback with the smart, clever, delightful and funny “Midnight in Paris”, for which he won an Oscar for his original screenplay and was nominated for Best Director. Shortly after that film’s release, Allen announced he was heading to Rome for his follow-up romantic comedy. With “To Rome with Love” Woody tries to duplicate the magic he produced with “Midnight”, and, for the most part, he fails miserably.
Instead of one, main storyline with a variety of interesting, well-written characters popping-up throughout, “To Rome with Love” tells four stories, all romance-based. And they all take place in Rome. Allen decides to keep all the plots separate – they never inter-twine or don’t come together in the end.
One is about a young architect (Jesse Eisenberg) who happens to meet a famous architect (played by Alec Baldwin) on the street one day. Baldwin’s character lived in Rome for a year when he was Eisenberg’s age. A love triangle blooms involving a girlfriend (Greta Gerwig) and her out-of-work actress-friend (Ellen Page) who comes to stay with them for awhile. Baldwin appears in these scenes, lending advice to the Eisenberg character, who is the only one who can see him. I think. This gimmick doesn’t work, as Baldwin constantly points out what’s going to happen minutes before it does. Was the Baldwin character simply flashing-back and re-living his younger days in Italy? It’s a dead-end plot no matter what Allen was trying to say.
Penelope Cruz (who’s been in many of Woody’s films lately) plays a high-priced prostitute who ends-up with a simple country husband whose wife gets lost in the city while looking for a place to get her hair done. She eventually meets-up with her all-time favorite movie actor and is temped to cheat on her husband with him. This is the most boring of the stories because it’s simply so ridiculous and you just don’t care what happens to any of these characters. Oh, and just like the Baldwin/Eisenberg story – no laughs.
The most interesting of the vignettes stars Roberto Benigni as a regular guy with a regular, boring job who one day walks out of his home and is instantly famous, for no apparent reason. There are a few humorous situations as his star quickly rises, and Beningi does a nice job portraying the craziness that comes with fame. But you know exactly where this is going as well. At least this story is semi-amusing and engaging.
And finally, Woody goes way out there with the fourth plot: First of all, by casting himself as a retired music producer in Rome with his wife to meet their daughter and her fiance. One of the things Allen got praise for with “Midnight” was allowing someone else (Owen Wilson) to play him in that film. Here it’s clear that not only has Allen lost his abilities as a comic-actor, but he can’t write funny lines for himself anymore. But that’s not the only problem here. The idea of this story – the finace’s father is a great Opera singer but can only sing in the shower – is so unfunny. And it’s stunning to see where Allen goes with this. It’s embarrasing that a comic genius such as Woody Allen couldn’t come-up with something better.
All of the situations in “To Rome with Love” are overdone, from the Opera singer in the shower, to Baldwin’s character, to what happens to Beningi, to Cruz and her story. The majority of the jokes fall flat – you chuckle every once in a while, but it’s rare.
What I still can’t understand is how Allen can go from the charming and surprising “Midnight in Paris”, to the bland, all-over-the-place and phony “To Rome with Love”. There was such little thought put into this film. Allen basically brought a bunch of current, popular celebrities together, placed them in yet another famous city and handed-out this cheesy script. I hope the cast and crew enjoyed their time in Rome when they weren’t on camera because what’s ON CAMERA is anything but enjoyable.
As always Allen makes his setting city look beautiful. “To Rome with Love” is Rated R for some language and adult content. It’s appropriate for teens and up. If you really enjoyed “Midnight” and have hopes that this will be as good or better, I strongly recommend that you skip it.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “To Rome with Love” gets a C-.