To Rome with Love

"To Rome with Love" is a fantastic and beautiful movie by none other than Woody Allen. All of his movies are about cute, funny and complex love stories happening at the same time in one location. In this film in particular, you have four love stories happening at the same time in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. A great cast starring Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni and Allen himself. Along with other good actors all do a great job together. We as the viewers who try to understand Allen's movies most of the time can see his elements repeating themselves again in this film such as: the love affairs amongst the characters, the long filming of the locations, the beauty of life shown that not everything can be achieved, how the characters are left with his/her loved ones, how all stories end with a closed ending, etc. Personally I always enjoy Allen's movies and kind of hoped this one wouldn't end so quickly, something about all the plot points during the movie were really compelling. When I saw on the page of the film the rating it got. I just couldn't understand why people can't appreciate Allen's movies nowadays? Is it that hard to enjoy a romance movie these days? In rome?

We have seen Woody Allen's multiple love letters to New York City, London, Barcelona, and Paris; now he sets his satirical eye on the ancient city of Rome. Starting halfway through the previous decade, Woody Allen altered his standard oeuvre from mostly comedic farce with a dash of autobiographical drama set amongst towering New York skyscrapers to films set in major European centers where the city itself is almost its own character. Barcelona nudged its way into the love triangle of Vicky Christina Barcelona and Paris's nightclubs and streets were a central character along with Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein in Midnight in Paris. In To Rome with Love, Woody is even less subtle about his intentions by loudly proclaiming in the film's title what he is up to.

There are multiple stories entering and exiting the stage with even more characters; however, unlike the majority of films which juggle numerous plot lines, these do not intersect; they exist by themselves and involve their own unique Roman characteristics. There is John (Alec Baldwin) who chooses to retrace his former life as a young man in Rome 30 years ago and ends up having a very interesting encounter with Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), Sally (Greta Gerwig), and the flippant Monica (Ellen Page). John has seen it all before and sets himself up as a Greek Chorus variant to the younger crowd. By the end of their section, every man in the audience over 30 should be nodding their heads in agreement about the Sally vs. Monica pros and cons. Their love triangle is a convenient excuse to insert the ancient ruins and architecture which you knew must fit somewhere in the film.

Hayley (Alison Pill) is in her early 20s and fulfills one of the ultimate lost tourist clichés in Rome; she bumps into Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), falls in love, and decides to spend the rest of her life in Italy. Upon hearing the news, Hayley's parents, Phyllis (Judy Davis) and Jerry (Allen), jet over to Rome to meet this guy and survey the situation. In his typical Woody Allen way, Jerry has a lot to say about the turbulence on the flight over, sizes up Michelangelo as a Communist, and can barely stand the irony that Michelangelo's father, Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliato), is an undertaker. Leave it to Woody to be able to fit his absolute phobia of death and all its accompaniments into a film about Rome. This particular film segment uses Roman opera as its backdrop with a very clever farce involving singing in the shower.

The most blatant comedic segment in the film is Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni). He is just a regular working stiff who wakes up at the same time every morning, eats his toast, goes to work, engages in water cooler talk, and comes home. One day, Leopoldo starts getting chased by obsessive paparazzi and screaming autograph seekers wherever he goes who want to know what he likes on his toast, how he shaves, and whether he is a boxers or briefs man. There is no reason for his sudden fame explosion which confuses Leopoldo all the more. This also confused the old ladies sitting next to me; however, this was a brilliant way for Allen to skewer the celebrity fetish. Some people are famous for just being famous even though they have accomplished absolutely nothing.

It seems Woody Allen used his most recent European love letter to fit in some messages he has had stirring around his brain for a little bit. He tackles the odd fascination with know- and do-nothing celebrities, the appeal of going after the vapid and attractive female even though you know she is ridiculous and it will only end badly, and what I suppose is a critique of not being a prude at the beginning of marriage. Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) and Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) have just arrived in Rome after their wedding to start their new life. Through a silly and contrived sequence of events which only serve to set up a ridiculous situation, Antonio winds up with a stunningly gorgeous prostitute, Anna (Penelope Cruz), and Milly winds up tempted by her most favorite actor in the world. This particular part of the film does not work too well but it does provide plenty of laughs as inappropriately clad Anna visits the Vatican.

To Rome with Love is not among the top tier of Woody Allen's decade long infatuation with filming in European locales (Midnight in Paris) but it is certainly not the worst (Scoop). Weaving in and out of these disconnected plot lines is fun and most of them are quite enjoyable. Using Rome and all of its wonderful settings to tie all of his characters together easily helps out what will most likely become one of the more middle of the road and average Wood Allen pictures. However, it is worth noting than an average Woody Allen film is head and shoulders above what is playing down the street in your local multiplex right now.

You kinda always know what you'll get with Woody Allen films by this point, which is that for every work that he does that knocks it out of the park (Match Point, Midnight in Paris), he'll come back and then... make a film that just stays as a single or double, to use baseball terms (i.e. Scoop, and this film). To Rome with Love is another "Woody's European City Tour" that follows London, Barcelona and of course Paris, and with Rome he pays tribute by doing one of those Italian anthology comedies (I haven't seen a lot of them frankly, but I'm thinking like back in the 60's with Boccaccio 62), and there are four stories that Woody could also have made individual films. Well, two would have been potentially amazing if they had the right focus (one of them, not so much, the time it has here is fine). Let's quickly rundown:

Woody himself returns for the first time on screen since Scoop (a little too old to be the romantic lead anymore, aside from, say, married to Judy Davis), and he and his wife go to see their daughter, played by Allison Pill, who is set to get married to Michelangelo. His parents are simple Roman folk, the father a mortician... who is also an amazing opera singer, but the catch is that he can only sing great in the shower (don't we all?) so Woody makes a trick: have him sing in the shower - on STAGE! Alec Baldwin plays a guy who, I think, looks back on his younger self as an impressionable architect (Jesse Eisenberg, very Woody-esque surrogate, but plays his own strengths well as well) who has a new romantic interest in the super-neurotic actress Ellen Page plays (a different turn for her that I had fun watching, though intentionally annoying as a character). An Italian couple are in love and are unfortunately separated and, through wacky misunderstandings, wind up with other partners over the course of one day. And Roberto Benigni is a regular guy chased by the paparazzi. Why? Why not?

Woody juggles between these stories and, the worst I can say about it is, it has an air of a sitcom to it. There's some misunderstandings and usually around fame or love or sex, or all of the above, and it's not too deep. Well, maybe the Baldwin/Eisenberg plot has some poignancy about a Man of the World who looks back on his youthful indiscretion, or would-be one, and there is a lot of humor to be mined. Hell, it's great to see Benigni have fun and be actually funny again in his premise, where he starts to go down deeper in the rabbit hole of fame. And while it's the weakest plot of all with the two Italian lovers split apart, when Penelope Cruz comes on screen for her brief time she's sexy, fun, and intelligent in her acting. Even Woody Allen himself, telling a lot of the brand of old, semi-corny jokes (but ALWAYS with a knowing wit and punchline) is amusing.

But when comedy works, it works, and there's a lot of stuff that worked here for me more than it didn't. Just seeing the old Italian man singing in the shower on stage (and applying/washing off Pagliaci make- up!) is a gag that only the most cynical would turn off on. It's a master filmmaker having fun, and a jazz clarinetist (yeah, I'm going there) noodling around on his instrument in a cinematic sort of way. I think for the summer season, which has passed know, it's a fine way to spend an afternoon or evening, not to mention with a wonderful cast by older-and-young Hollywood players and Italian not-so-well-known folks. Just not in an OMG YOU MUST SEE THIS IT WILL WIN AN Oscar sort of experience.

Although nowhere near Woody Allen's great films like Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and her Sisters and Midnight in Paris, To Rome with Love is still a charming, and entertaining film. Some have called the film, Woody Allen's worst film, and I simply don't agree. (His worse film is Scoop) The whole cast works nicely and all the performances are all around great. My favorite being Judy Davis, she stole the show for me.

I found some of the scenes rushed and haphazardly constructed and some of the dialogue overwritten and under-rehearsed. The film at times, felt very lazy and a bit fake, at times. At 112 Mimutes, To Rome with Love is a good 20 minutes longer than most Woody Allen films, and it shows. The movie was overlong and a bit boring at times. There weren't enough charming and funny scenes to compensate for it's running time. Some scenes should've definitely been cut. Woody Allen's latest effort is flawed, but definitely not a bad film, as most are saying.

7/10

"To Rome with Love" is a fantasy film; a comedy about people living out their fantasies. The great thing about it is that it's subtle enough that you don't recognize the fantasy element in all of the relationships until later on in the film. The obvious one is when native Roman, Leopoldo Pisanello (Roberto Benigni), becomes a celebrity over night. "It's better to be a celebrity than an unknown." And as Benigni shows, way funnier too.

It's the type of film where everybody gets to see themselves as famous, or supremely interesting, or a guiding angel, or married to a hooker, or the object of a movie star's affections, or on a romantic rendezvous with a thief, or having the ability to change the world with one simple idea. It will take you to wherever your heart desires. And then you'll realize why it's often advised to think with your brain rather than with your heart.

Half Italian and half English, we follow two relationships involving Romans and two relationships with Americans in Rome. A young, Italian, married couple get separated and the young man finds himself living out every other young man's fantasies while the young woman finds herself living out her own fantasies.

Hayley (Alison Pill), a New Yorker transplanted in Rome, falls in love and gets engaged to a successful Roman lawyer. Her parents (Woody Allen and Judy Davis) make the trek across the ocean to meet their in-laws. But Allen's obsession with death and equating retirement with death causes him to create a national disaster (or success story, depending on how you look at it).

Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) is an American architect living in Rome with his girlfriend. First he meets his architecture idol, John (Alec Baldwin), who sees Jack as the younger version of himself. Or more accurately, Jack sees John as the older version of himself (the joke works better that way). Then Jack meets Monica (Ellen Page) who is his girlfriend's best friend and is the object of all men's fantasies.

Page also gets to play the role of the self-obsessed, pseudo-intellectual — commonly referred to as "the pedantic one" in most Woody Allen movies. Other than Allen himself, Eisenberg and Baldwin play a sort of tag-team version of the self-deprecating, neurotic hero, although this time with a touch of confidence.

Confidence is not to be confused with optimism because as funny as "To Rome with Love" is, it also has Allen's usual undertone of pessimism. Death is going to come sooner than you would like, but not soon enough. And even if you do get to live out your heart's fantasies, they may not lead to everything that you hoped for. This film is the comedy version of death and negativity, and can provide you with the simple joys in life.