Hollywood Ending

This is by far one of the year's most original films. It will certainly not win anything special, but HOLLYWOOD ENDING is still quite an entertaining trip. There are no majorly huge laughs in this film, but Woody Allen is a master at creating ingenious stories and plots that have never been done before. He is not one to go for the 'crude' humor feel that most films do go for nowadays. Now, yes, I love crude humor movies, but where would we be without Woody Allen?

This film is a far better improvement over his 'not-very-funny' PICKING UP THE PIECES and his even worse SMALL TIME CROOKS, which didn't really have much of a story to it. He is good and in a way daring, as it almost seems like he begins his screenplays without any idea as to how they will end. Usually, these types of films are not good ones, but Mr. Allen has the gift to be able to pull off an effective and original story for one of the better film's of his career. There is only one problem that I can spot-- and that is that I feel that Woody Allen doesn't have a great knack for being able to write effective dramatic moments. His moments of the film that try to be touching, are not really all that good, and they aren't all that believable as far as drama goes. Still, his humorous moments are pretty good, but you must have the proper sense of humor in order to understand Woody's creative comedy style.

While I wouldn't call the film 'unforgettable', it is still quite an enduring experience and you probably will not forget it any time soon. I recommend that you see the two other films that I mentioned, and his animated debut ANTZ, which is still one of the best animated films ever. Still yet, you should see this movie. It isn't going to be anything big, but still, HOLLYWOOD ENDING is a movie you should see.

HOLLYWOOD ENDING: 4/5.

I admit to being a big Woody Allen fan; when I was in college, I went to a Woody Allen movie - Play it Again, Sam - and all around me, people were laughing like hyenas. I had no idea what was funny. Now I don't know how I ever thought that.

"Hollywood Ending" is a 2002 film from the prolific Allen, and he gives it to Hollywood but good. He plays a neurotic, hypochondriacal film director named Val who can't get arrested thanks to being so difficult. But in a conference about a film, The City that Never Sleeps, his ex-wife Ellie (Tea Leoni), in charge of development, is positive that he would be the best man for the job. She is shot down by everyone, including her current producer boyfriend Yeager (Treat Williams) but she manages to convince him to at least meet with Val.

Val loathes Yeager and he doesn't want to have anything to do with him or Ellie but he's just come home from a Canadian winter shoot for a deodorant commercial, from which he was fired, and he's desperate. His long-suffering agent Al (Mark Rydell) gets him the deal, and Val is hired.

The night before the shoot, Val calls Al, in the middle of a Seder, and demands he come over. He's blind. Al gets him to a doctor but there's nothing wrong with Val's eyes. He can't lose the job, so Al goes with him to the set, but is thrown out by Ed (George Hamilton). Al suggests that he find a confidant who can see him through the film. Since Val has demanded a Chinese cameraman who doesn't speak English, the translator needs to be around, so he helps Val out. But Val is going to need a lot more help than the translator.

I found the premise and the whole movie quite funny, with some great dialogue and good acting from everyone, including Debra Messing, who plays Val's current bimbo girlfriend, whom he casts in the film.

The movie would have been better if Allen had actually attempted to cover up the fact that Val is blind rather than acting just like a blind man. The fact that no one noticed is ridiculous. When someone speaks to him, he looks the opposite way, and he stares straight ahead, and he needs help walking.

All in all, I really enjoyed it. It's not his best; it's not his worst. Some very funny scenes and filled with wit.

I liked when Woody Allen went back to comedy and starred in his own films again during this period. He started showing his age in the 00's, but in this film he's still a lot of fun and capable of being a physical comic. It's a story about a real down on his luck has-been of a director (Allen) who's so desperate that he's reduced to filming commercials in Canada. So he has no choice but to accept an offer to direct a big movie that could put him back on top - the problem is, the two producers are his ex-wife (Tea Leoni) and her new fiancé who stole her from Allen (Treat Williams). Right before production all the stress gets to Woody and he experiences psychosomatic blindness and has to direct the whole movie without being able to see. He can't blow this important opportunity and has to fake his way through without letting anyone but his trustworthy agent and his Asian cameraman's interpreter know what's happening.

This is a sure-fire recipe for laughs, and it mostly delivers. Tea Leoni is perfect for the role of Woody's long-suffering ex who's stuck working with him again under such touchy circumstances. I also enjoy Mark Rydell as his dedicated agent and mentor. Debra Messing plays another in a long line of ditzy young girlfriends who can't seem to resist shacking up with the 66-year-old Allen. The one flaw is that the movie goes on a tad long, and maybe the gag wears thin by the home stretch. *** out of ****

Following a string of flops and a "difficult" reputation, director Val Waxman is now paying the bills doing adverts or anything else he can get. When his ex-wife gets her project greenlit by producer boyfriend Hal Jaeger, she fights for Val to get the job. Despite the personal issues and conflicts Val knows it is his last chance to get his career back and takes the job. The personal problems are only the start of things going wrong whenever Val is suddenly struck down with psychosomatic blindness. Knowing that this would get him fired and ruined, Val and his agent try to conceal the fact and continue the film.

With poor reviews and no good signs about it, it was no surprise that this film never came to any cinemas near me (was it even released in the UK?) and to be honest I wasn't that bothered that I missed it. A visit to Austria recently found it playing in cinema in Vienna and, although I didn't see it then, it put it in my mind to watch it at home and see if it was worth the ongoing cinema screenings that the Austrians were giving it. The start of the film suggests a fairly good film as it is full of the usual Allen wit even if it felt a bit like him on autopilot. However with the "blindness" section things seem to falter and fail a bit – at first it is funny but quickly it gets tired and there is nothing injected into the film to shore it up. The reason for the blindness is suggested as interesting but it is barely done and not taken anywhere other than the most basic development in order to provide a conclusion. The idea is good and the real life parallels are interesting (Allen, handicapped by the American system but still appreciated in Europe even if he doesn't totally understand why) but these are not taken beyond the original concept and never brought out in the script. Instead we have plenty of OK jokes and quips but nothing that approaches an engaging narrative or a developed plot. It is still OK but it is unlikely that any audiences other than real Allen fans will get much fro it; as one I laughed and enjoyed it a bit but am not blind to the massive weaknesses.

Allen does his usual stuff to good effect and if you like him you'll like him here. Leoni acts in his shadow and can't make the role her own – she stays very much an Allen creation. Williams is enjoyable; Hamilton is fun and the support cast all do well enough with their various parts. None of them really shine but the script still shares the laughs around and nobody actually gave a bad performance as such – just a shame that none of them have a character to speak of either.

Overall this is an OK film but nothing more than that. Even fans of Woody Allen will be at a stretch to forgive a script that has no development, characters or reason. The laughs come in fits and starts and the film rarely satisfies; fun but nothing to write home about and I'm glad I didn't spent my limited time in Austria watching this.

Some of the one liners here are so hysterical, you will think about them long after the movie ends and still roar. This is a very funny movie and plays right into the audience expectation Allen is mocking in his script. After the war in Iraq, Woody's comment about "Thank God the French exist" is even more amusing than when he first wrote it. Yes Thank God for the French, they've made some funny movies too. And Thank God for people like Woody Allen. The world needs him. I love how his running trademark showing him with younger women still continues to upset certain members of both the public and critical elite. I think at his age, Allen can pretty much do and write what he wants. Personally, I enjoy the fantasy; it's a sly little dig against the morals of American culture, especially in the Ashcroft/Bush JR era. Older men and younger women have been around forever, and Woody definitely isnt the only one experiencing this condition, so get over yourselves, uptighters, and learn to laugh at life. The dumbing down of society (referred to often in the screenplay) is highly evident after the negative reactions this has received. It's only a movie; it's not the end of the world. You either get it or you don't.