A down-on-his luck auteur gets one more chance at the big time -- provided his neuroses don't swallow him whole -- in Woody Allen's 33rd feature release, Hollywood Ending. Allen plays Val Waxman, a one-time cinematic genius who's resorted to taking advertisement work to pay the bills for himself and his airhead live-in girlfriend, Lori (Debra Messing). Val finds his luck is about to change, however, when he receives the script for The City Never Sleeps, a period noir set against the backdrop of
1940s New York City. It seems his ex-wife, Ellie (Tea Leoni), now an executive at Galaxy Pictures, has been pulling for him to direct the picture, claiming he's the only man who can do justice to the script. She even manages to convince her boyfriend, Hal (Treat Williams), Galaxy's high-powered studio head, to take a chance on Val's "unique vision." Just when the cameras are ready to roll, however, Val finds that unique vision in jeopardy -- literally -- as he's struck with a psychosomatic case of blindness. When physicians and psychiatrists fail to cure him, Val contrives a scheme to forge ahead with the picture, for fear of blowing his one last chance at greatness. Hollywood Ending co-stars George Hamilton and Mark Rydell. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
[Allen's] been making piffle for a long while, and Hollywood Ending may be his way of saying that piffle is all that the airhead movie business deserves from him right now.
Com seu habitual humor auto-depreciativo e seu imenso talento para a comédia física, Allen cria um filme divertido, mas que jamais se equipara aos seus grandes trabalhos.
Que las escenas más graciosas de una película de Woody Allen sean aquellas en las que se da contra una puerta o se cae de una altura es señal de que ya no es lo mismo.
It's getting difficult to watch this old dog trying so hard to pull off the same old tricks; Allen is becoming a caricature of himself, a cartoon, before our very eyes.
Sadly ridiculous with probably one of the worst casts Allen has assembled for any of his films.
January 22, 2010
Tony Gandia
Super Reviewer
First and last thirds (when Woody's not doing his insultingly unconvincing blind man routine) are actually pretty nice. While I love Debra Messing on "Will & Grace," she's too smart to play dumb.
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