Writer and director Woody Allen returns to the Manhattan of the past with this romantic comedy set in 1940, the era of fedora hats and gumshoe detectives. Allen stars as C.W. Briggs, an insurance investigator whose razor-sharp instincts have just led to the successful conclusion of another case, the recovery of a stolen Picasso. While he's a valued employee, Briggs is under fire from efficiency expert Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt) for his antiquated attitudes and refusal to accept modern
crime-solving techniques such as fingerprinting. C.W. claims he puts himself directly into the criminal mind, a skill that will do him no good when he and Betty Ann are hypnotized at a Rainbow Room gathering one night by the magician Volton (David Ogden Stiers). As a parlor trick to entertain their co-workers, Volton makes C.W. and Betty Ann believe they're a couple that's deeply in love. But the performer secretly keeps up the ruse after the party's over, calling C.W. to whisper a magic code word and ordering the detective to rob wealthy homes with security systems that C.W. himself has designed. With no memory of his thieving activities, a frustrated C.W. can't solve the high-profile jewel burglaries, while he and Betty Ann struggle with their odd new attraction for each other, made more complicated by the fact that Betty Ann is romantically involved with their boss (Dan Aykroyd). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
[Allen's] let his guard down and has allowed himself and his audience to relax -- something that doesn't often happen when the specters of class and European art hover over his pictures.
Like a Swiss clock, Allen is the only American director who makes a film every year, but chronic fatigue and lack of inspiration seem to have taken over his work, as this retro comedy, using the old conceit of hypnosis, shows.
Is it funny? Yeah, kinda. But somehow it doesn't all come together. It's not that the material is lacking, but, incredibly for an Allen picture, that the delivery is off-kilter.
Bad story and abysmal chemistry curse this luster-less dog.
January 22, 2010
Tony Gandia
Super Reviewer
Despite Woody reportedly having hated this film, I actually kinda liked it. It's entertaining enough, witty enough, jazzy enough, and fun enough to merit a second watch. Even though Woody and Helen Hunt have absolutely zero chemistry together. The ending was quite fun.
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