Woody Allen - The Last 12 Years
Friday, July 26, 2013 at 5:29PM Podcast mate and friend Joe Reid polled several critics (including myself) for an article at Tribeca Film detailing Woody Allen's recent output as the critical hit Blue Jasmine hits theaters. I won't be able to see the new entry in his filmography until Sunday since I'm in Chicago for the weekend and limited release films only believe in Los Angeles and New York for their coming out balls. But since I took the time to write Joe notes on each film for this collective list, I thought I'd share them. I regret to inform that in doing this I have just been reminded that my proud familiar refrain "I've never missed a Woody Allen movie in the theater since I saw my first one in 1984!" is not technically true anymore. This article forced me to recall that I did not see and still have not seen Cassandra's Dream (2007) ... though I can't honestly remember why. Have you?
Here's my ranking from worst to best of Mr Allen's recent work if you'd like to compare it to the consensus list at Tribeca. I've also included their Rotten Tomatoes percentage and box office gross just for survey perspective.
UNRANKED
Cassandra's Dream (2007) RT 46% BO $.9
TIER 5 - DISASTERS
12 The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
I used to call this Woody's nadir and found it nearly unwatchable with Helen Hunt being Woody's first (but not last) female lead who just couldn't sell his comic cadences. I suspect, since the quality of his films nose-dived after it, that maybe it's better than what followed but at the time I couldn't believe there could be such a "bad" Woody Allen picture. As such it was a shock to my system. The only thing that emerged unscathed was Charlize Theron.
RT 45 % BO $7.5
11 You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (2010)
Great title. Terrible, sexist film.
RT 45% BO $3.2
TIER 4 - NO, THANKS
10 Hollywood Ending (2002)
Fun concept, weirdly unfunny film
RT 47% BO $4.8
09 To Rome With Love (2011)
Like a shorts anthology where only one of the shorts is any good.
RT 43% BO $16.6
08 Whatever Works (2009)
Famously rescuscitated dusty old script. Damn you, spring cleaning! The only thing that emerged unscathed was Patricia Clarkson. If you're sensing a pattern here it's that Woody's films are generally Supporting Actress heavy.
RT 50% BO $5.3
TIER 3 - THEY HAVE THEIR MOMENTS
07 Anything Else (2003)
Woody tries to go young to strange effect, but at least he wrote himself an atypical and funny character. Though this was disappointing I do still remember Christina Ricci delivering a few good zingers
RT 40% BO $3.2
06 Melinda & Melinda (2004)
Genius concept, shoddy confused execution. If you're sensing a pattern here it's that Woody can usually still come up with fine idea or clever outline but after that there's no telling what he'll do with it. Does he get bored during the process somewhere? With Radha Mitchell who was never meant to be a Woody Allen Muse.
RT 53% BO $3.8
05 Scoop (2006)
Instantly disposable but fun.
RT 39% $10.5
TIER 2 - GOOD FILMS
04 Small Time Crooks (2000)
Woody started the millenium off strong with this silly caper. Elaine May was memorable and I love Tracey Ullman's vocabulary lesson... "I was really quite agog."
RT 67% BO $17.2
03 Midnight in Paris (2011)
If it weren't for the WASPy walking stereotypes in the modern section of the film (god Rachel Adams is terrible in that film!) it'd be as great as it got credit for being. Still, Woody's first Best Picture nominee since Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) is a keeper. It nearly made my top ten list in its year.
RT 93% BO $56.8
TIER 1 - TRUE GEMS (these two regularly switch places)
02 Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)
Beautifully risque and melancholy and moody and blessed with four wonderfully engaged and even sexy (yes in a Woody Allen!) performances. I wish it were "gee-nee-us" but it's close enough.
RT 82% BO $23.2
01 Match Point (2005)
So complicated, risky, and clever -- so far above what he's been turning out this new century that you wonder if it's one of his only recent scripts that he turned in several drafts on. What's more it's definitely his best directed movie in the 21st century.
RT 77% BO $23.1
Reader Comments (32)
I don't understand why "Cassandra's Dream," was trashed. Yes, maybe casting Ewan and Colin as brothers, but they are wonderful in it.
My favorites from the last 12 years:
1) Match Point
2) Vicky Cristina Barcelona
3) Midnight in Paris
4) Cassandra's Dream
5) Whatever Works
And "Curse of the Jade Scorpion," was most certainly the worst Woody EVER.
Cassandra's Dream is terrific, and a fitting thematic cousin to Match Point, with a tremendous performance from Colin Farrell. You should most definitely check it out!
As for Woody's overall output, the fun thing about Woody is that he's still cranking them out every year, so we get to revisit the overall body of work often and debate it up and down the block. The not so fun thing is that for a long time the consensus was that Woody was washed up and that going to his movies now is a chore. If nothing else, I'm glad Midnight in Paris (even though it's not my favorite) and a few other recent gems have gotten people back to looking forward to the new Woody Allen movie, and looking back on his recent work a bit more fondly!
I liked Cassandra's Dream quite a lot, but Match Point is one of my least favorite Woody Allen films. Midnight in Paris is my favorite in this century and one of the top 5 ever. I liked all of his movies.
I'd never rank any Woody Allen film as a disaster. even his disasters have something in them, but if I did, I would've ranked Cassandra's Dream as such back in the day. I hated it, now I'd probably classify it in the "it has its moments" category, mostly because of a charming Farrell, but all in all it didn't work.
My favourites are also Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona and have a soft spot for Midnight in Paris charm.
I absolutely dig the disposability and silly fun that is Scoop, but Melinda and Melinda on the other side, which wasn't suppsed to be disposable had no lasting effect on me, I forgot it the moment I saw it. The same effect You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger would have years later.
The worst ones I've seen Whatever Works (really bad) and To Rome with Love.
The different reactions to the same films makes me wonder how people will see them in 30 years, once they're seen decontextualised or in no chronological order.
'Midnight in Paris' and 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' are shit.
Nathaniel: I agree that Match Point and VCB are easily his two best of modern times - and you're absolutely right, Match Point is the best-directed film of the bunch. I think it's a stunner. And VCB is soooo cool, and sunny, and sad.
I was a bit baffled by how popular Midnight in Paris was. Seemingly everyone in the world liked it! To me, it was mild fun. I agree about the WASPs - that part of it almost lets the film down. But on the plus side, the story is so good, and the nostalgic stuff so seductive, and the ending so happy (!), that it's a real charmer. Always happy to see him being awarded an Oscar, too!
Of the rest, I rate To Rome With Love higher than you do. For me, it really improved on a second viewing. It's still far from top-tier, but it's funny and jaunty and I think that three of the stories are pretty interesting. (The Benigni segment is, to me, the least satisfactory - though it's not Benigni's fault.)
I don't really like Anything Else or Melinda and Melinda much at all. I've seen them twice each, and I have next to no desire to see them again. (And I am a massive Woody fan!)
I think Hollywood Ending is the most frustrating. It is almost very funny - there are some great opportunities for slapstick - but is filled with more misses than hits.
Do see Cassandra's Dream. It's minor Woody, but still has some virtues - effortlessly economical storytelling, some genuine suspense, and a fairly gripping relationship between the brothers.
Can't wait for Blue Jasmine! (Though I have to, until September - that's when it arrives in London.)
No love for Larry David Nathaniel? I didn't like <I>Whatever Works either, but I thought he was the best part of the film.
My recent faves:
Match Point, VCB, Melinda & Melinda, and Anything Else. I also kind of like Celebrity... Charlize has a great cameo in that!
I still think about the script for Match Point. Really strong stuff. Very darkly funny.
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger is maybe one of the worst things I've ever seen in a theater. I really couldn't believe it while I was watching.
Sorry, friends -- I LOVE The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. I think Helen Hunt and Woody Allen make pretty believable sparring partners, with genuine comic chemistry. The nadir, for me, is Anything Else, which may boast a great Woody Allen role, but the Jason Biggs lead was insufferable.
Every time I reflect on how deflated I felt re: Melinda and Melinda, I remember that the role was written for Winona Ryder. Winona. Ryder. IMAGINE.
I am all aboard team Ullman and May,i feel Ullman shoulda have won the comedy gg in 2000 and May the oscar for supporting actress.
You can't say TALL DARK STRANGER is sexist and not give details as to why you believe so.
Damn I love Match Point. I like my Woody Allen films like my coffee...
The other day I posted an entry about "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and how it just needed that one more FINAL little twist to make it a perfect movie. I feel the same way about "Midnight in Paris (95% of which I enjoyed immensely)...but when the lovers walk away at the end, what's needed is for a very futuristic car to pull up next to them and have someone in incredibly futuristic clothing/computerware get out, and say to Owen Wilson, "Aren't you the legendarily famous writer, Gil?" That would bring the whole story full circle back to when he first spied the car with Zelda and Scott and recognized them--only in the future, Gil IS as famous as Fitzgerald et all.
How anyone can defend or actually like Cassandra's Dream or You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, at all, confuses me to my very core.
In addition to the great performances of Colin and Ewan, the film also gave me my first look at Sally Hawkins and she was quite memorable.
woody allen is like an abusive spouse, occasionally delivering the love you originally fell for but ultimately i know he's going to disappoint me over and over
match point was the dizzying return to form, small time crooks reminded me how he used to make me laugh and cassandra's dream made me wonder what i'd done for him to punish me like that
i saw melinda and melinda but can't remember a thing about it and i thought midnight in paris and vicki cristina barcelona were grossly overrated - especially the latter with the tired old 'one woman's ignorant but sexual/the other's intellectual but frigid' trope he's gone to too many times. hated it so much it even made me question my lifelong desire to visit barcelona
I'm always surprised by the negative reaction to You WIll Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. I'd actually rate that as one of his better movies from the grouping we're discussing here.
I don't blame Rachel McAdams for how awful she was in Midnight in Paris. Her character is one of Woody's most misogynistic female characters in his entire filmography. What was she supposed to do with such a whiny, petulant shrew? Even the greatest of actresses would have struggled to make that character come alive...
I don't really dislike Curse of the Jade Scorpion, or any Woody, but I haven't seen five of his less popular films from this decade.
Tier 1
1. Midnight in Paris (2011)
2. Match Point (2005)
Tier 2
3. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
4. Whatever Works (2009)
5. To Rome with Love (2012)
Tier 3
6. Small Time Crooks (2000)
7. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
8. Melinda and Melinda (2004)
I think Match Point is a flat-out masterpiece. I've seen it repeatedly, and I'd probably rank it among his top five films ever.
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger may be my least favorite Woody Allen movie (among the ones I've seen, at least). I could barely finish it.
Midnight in Paris was somewhat overrated (and I agree with everyone's thoughts on McAdams and the modern-day characters generally), but at least his new films are being discussed a bit more seriously in light of its success.
I've seen all Woody Allen films. Whatever Works was brilliant. Small Time Crooks was meh.
I'm not a Woody completist so haven't seen all his latest films but of those I have I loved Small Time Crooks and Tracey Ullman in it. I really liked Midnight in Paris, Cassandra's Dream and Match Point. I was indifferent to Vicky Cristina Barcelona even though I liked all the actors in it. Anything Else stunk.
Top 5
1.) Vicki Cristina Barcelona- Too many hot people. Good lord. I don't care if Penelope's character was nuts, I'd take that arrangement!
2.) Small Time Crooks- The Elaines are both national treasures.
3.) Match Point- Guy's right though. Some of his tourism in his foreign films, exception to VCB, is really distracting. I am a little worried for San Francisco in Blue Jasmine. Anyway, I am also a huge ScarJo fan, which until Avengers seemed very out of fashion, and she made the movie.
Mind the gap in quality. Not a real fan of these last 12 years.
4.) Cassandra's Dream- Really, really underrated. Especially on these boards. This may come down to the fact that I still believe in Colin Farrell.
5.) Melinda/Melinda- It's been years since I saw it but when I caught it in HS, it made me feel very smart. So, yes, it's number 5 for my teenage vanity. It bumps Midnight in Paris because I like when Woody gives jobs to my favorite character actors (Though Corey Stoll as Hemingway in MiP is amazing) and yeah, McAdams' performance along with the disposable, 'I hate my in-laws because they're sympathetic to the Tea Party' sub-plot bump it down.
I still need to see Whatever Works and Anything Else. I remember people hating it as much as Cassandra's Dream so the love WW is getting on here does interest me.
WAAAAYYYY too much Love for "Vicky Christina Whatever" & not enough for "Hollywood Ending" & "Melinda Melinda"!
In my opinion, Cassandra's Dream is a dog. Probably Colin Farrell's most noticeably bad performance.
After reading this article, I ended up watching Anything Else last nigh! Christina Ricci and Stockard Channing are so much fun to watch.
I LOVE Vicky Cristina Barcelona! It's so sexy. And Rebecca Hall, Penelope and Javier are sublime.
I reallyyy need to watch Match Point.
I thought Vicky Christina Barcelona was insufferable as were the trio of Johannson, Cruz and Bardem. Really hated Midnight in Paris as well, in terms of depth and emotion, that was I the Katy Perry of all Paris movies.
You haven't seen the best of them all, Cassandra's Dream? How come?
I just watched the recent Woody Allen doc as a primer for Blue Jasmine. A lot of softballs, obviously, but some good insight into what makes him tick. I also wasn't aware of his origins (i.e. the newspaper joke-writing). Too bad columns like that don't exist anymore--maybe newspapers wouldn't be in as bad a shape.
Here are my rankings from the past 12 years with a lot unseen. Looks like I've only missed the duds.
UNSEEN:
Curse of the Jade Scorpion ('01)
Hollywood Ending ('02)
Anything Else ('03)
Melinda and Melinda ('04)
Cassandra's Dream ('07)
Whatever Works ('09)
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger ('10)
To Rome with Love ('13)
5. Scoop ('06) -- Fun but, I agree, disposable.
4. Match Point ('05) -- Certainly not a bad film, but I'm not as enamored with it as most. I guess my problem is that it seemed pointlessly melodramatic and dark, as if to prove Allen's capable of doing something he's already ably demonstrated in far subtler films.
3. Vicky Cristina Barcelona ('08) -- For me, the first glimmer of hope after a near-decade-long dry spell. Wonderful performances, dialogue, cinematography. I could go on and on.
2. Small Time Crooks ('00) -- Ullman and May (and Allen himself) are a hoot, along with the rest of a loaded ensemble cast. It's the kind of farce Allen has shied away from in recent years.
1. Midnight in Paris ('11) -- I fall in love with this film (and discover new things to love) every time I watch it.
After "Match Point" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (and some moments in "Scoop") my only demand for Woody Allen's 2015 project is: MAN, CAST SCARLETT JOHANSSON AGAIN!
Let's be honest, she may not be the best actress in the world (she's good, not fabuluous, but still very good), but Woody's movies with her have a certain spice the others don't have...