Tutti dicono I Love You

Woody Allen takes us back to the true form Broadway musical and adds splashes of droll, post-modern sensibility and humor. A charming film. The balance of characters and their foibles, showtunes and milieu. Existentialist song and dance with a touch of dark romance.

I didn't really know what to expect when I heard this was an all-stops-out Woody Allen musical, featuring the REAL voices of his stars. Some of them should definitely not quit their day jobs--Julia Roberts and Ed Norton in particular. Others, like Goldie Hawn, Alan Alda and Tim Roth, fare much better. I shudder to think what Drew Barrymore sounds like--she has said her voice is SO bad, she insisted on someone dubbing it. I can't imagine how she could top Julia Roberts on the "tone deaf" meter.

There really isn't much of a plot here. It's basically about upper-class New Yorkers struggling with their love lives, but the plot gives Woody an excuse to film in Venice and Paris and mimic his hero, Groucho Marx. Some of the musical interludes are really creative and funny--dare I say as good as some of the numbers in the classic MGM musicals. And some of the numbers, in places like hospitals, funeral homes, and jewelry stores, are a little on the bizarre side. Woody Allen fans will most definitely appreciate this more than the average viewer. And on another note, I have no idea why this movie is rated R. There is no profanity, no nudity, no sex, no violence---I think the MPAA was on drugs when they saw this.

Woody Allen, one of my absolute favorite film directors, goes against the grain of his normal outings with a very creative cinematic device which involves making a bright, happy musical that takes the course of a normal film starring actors who've never sung before singing with their normal voices in musical numbers with no truly professional dancers. With this vastly fun element of the movie, Allen shows us life if any old person broke out into song. And that is what makes it an even more pleasant and encouraging escape that many other normal musicals.

One has never before looked at a cast the same way. I wonder what reviews were like. I can say that Alan Alda, who's always fun, has one of the very best voices in the film and even plays the piano. The same goes for Goldie Hawn, who apparently was scared to death of singing in the film. She's also still extremely hot. Julia Roberts plays a very very serious role and never sings, but it was definitely interesting to observe what she and Woody are like on screen together. He carries the scenes, and she loyally follows. Natascha Lyonne is the definite highlight of the cast, playing a hyperconfident girl in that midpoint between girl and woman whose flights of fancy make her extremely fickle with men. Edward Norton, one of the best contemporary actors we have, is actually not at his best in this film. It feels like he just doesn't know how to get comfortable in his role. His voice is OK. Billy Crudup, in a small role, is actually quite unexpectedly funny in a little number in a cab with a Middle Eastern driver. Tim Roth, an unexpected addition to the bit players like Crudup, has a great non- singing role that recalls the genre he's been working in for most of his career.

Where a lot of musicals repel most people because of their agonizingly featherweight stories, this one does what a great musical is supposed to do, which is lift your spirits and make you feel the very deepest potential of life's beauty that can possibly be pulled out of it, and because of Allen's unorthodox method, it nails it. It's one of my favorite musicals, of which there are few. It's a very interesting ensemble epic that involves all different strands pertaining to the love life and newfound wisdom of each member of a wealthy and happy family.

Not just any filmmaker should be entrusted with the delicate and precarious genre of the musical. Woody Allen would probably be the last person I'd expect to see work up a musical. He's gotten a lot more experimental in some of his more recent works, so it's of no surprise. I think what makes this film work is in its charm and the love of 30's musicals that is behind it. This really is an ode to the old black and white musicals and to the classic love stories of the same period. Now, on the level of Woody Allen's catalog, this one does not rank very high, but in comparison to television shows that have the occasional musical episode, this one hits its mark. The reason I mention the last comment is because there are some actors in here that never would they be expected to sing in a film. Maybe they shouldn't have, but there is just a lot of love behind this production that you've just gotta smile.

A fresh and original musical comedy, the film takes classic songs and fits them into a new vision with some different dance routines. The choreography is lively and the actors and actresses do not look like professional dancers, which helps to make the music and dance side more natural. It is still as witty and funny as one would expect from a Woody Allen comedy, and the ensemble cast brings forth some great performances, even from actresses such as Goldie Hawn and Drew Barrymore who are not usually amazing. Other than light commentary on love and romance in New York and international society, the film is lacking in depth, some of the sequences are overdone and the narration tires as it progresses, but generally the film is well made. It also possesses a charm that helps it to swing along, and it becomes easy to accept different sequences, given that it is a musical that one is watching. The film will however best be enjoyed by those who are familiar with its redone songs.