Ugh: Whatever Works

Larry David in a Woody Allen film with Harris Savides shooting. Enough said. I'm there. If a film student did exactly what Allen does in the first five minutes of the film, they'd be mercilessly criticized and probably hung if it were after the first year. Larry David basically lectures to the camera for five minutes about what a miserable lot the human race is and it goes on and on to the point of nausea. From there, it gets better, there are a few good jokes, but overall, it felt a bit like the humor at a family holiday dinner where you laughing mostly out of obligation rather than pure joy. Plus, the entire premise of the movie was one big cliche - David takes in a young stupid hottie, they fall in love, her conservative parents come to town to find her and end up turning into liberal, bohemian New Yorkers and giving up their stupid, country, god-believing ways. From the cinematical:

Stuffy conservatives! If they only knew that finding and embracing happiness was more important than adhering to intolerant beliefs – and judging those who don't conform accordingly – the world would be one big, joyous Manhattan loft party populated by free-love hipsters! What's obnoxious about Allen's stereotype-mining reversals aren't the politics (though some will surely object) but their unimaginative moldiness.

I'll always love Woody Allen, but this is one worth skipping.