Whatever Works Reviews
February 6, 2018
This is fun, but it turns Boris's doomsday neurotic rants into mere cartoon caterwauling. Levant, who never got a happy ending, would no doubt sneer.
January 17, 2018
Woody Allen is always exploring new avenues. While Whatever Works isn't close to his best films, it is far better than most of the current crop of romantic comedies, most of which are schlock.
November 17, 2011
Original Score: 2/5
June 25, 2010
It won't win Allen new converts, but for those of faith, it offers consolation.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
June 25, 2010
David might be plugging a gap between Curb series, but Allen can do better.
Original Score: 2/5
June 24, 2010
What's Woody Allen's worst film? Look no further.
Full Review
| Original Score: 0/4
June 24, 2010
Tragically making Vicky Cristina Barcelona look like a happy accident, Whatever Works is retro Allen that smacks of desperation.
Original Score: 2/5
June 24, 2010
For all its wobbles, Whatever Works is rooted in an agreeable sensibility: life favours fate over luck more than we'd like to think, so grab whatever chances of happiness come your way.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
June 24, 2010
Allen showed us better than anyone what the good times really look like. We can't quite give up on that. We never will.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
June 24, 2010
Great news! Woody Allen has extended his run of decent films! To two!
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
October 15, 2009
All rather mellow and predictable.
October 15, 2009
Whatever Works is funnier than anything he's done in a long time -- funny in the robust vaudevillian manner of Groucho Marx.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
October 14, 2009
In the end, Whatever Works just about does work, though there's an awkwardness about it that is never quite dispelled.
Original Score: 3/5
August 11, 2009
Woody Allen is infuriating. He has created some of the most radical and important comedy of all time. But Woody Allen is old and he is lazy and he just doesn't care.
Original Score: C+
July 3, 2009
Consider our enthusiasm curbed.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/5
July 3, 2009
After the fiercely enjoyable Vicky Christina Barcelona, this return to New York City is a letdown, though not without a few charms.
Original Score: 2.5/4
July 3, 2009
The result is a witty, well-played work without an adequate center. If you can get past that, Whatever Works does.
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
July 3, 2009
Whatever Works isn't deep, but with Grandpa Woody, you accept the warmed over, the recycled, just relieved he hasn't made a spectacle of himself.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
July 3, 2009
It's a movie that feels assembled from the leftovers Allen found in his fridge.
Original Score: 2/4
July 3, 2009
30 years after he wrote and shelved this script, the conceptual creakiness of Whatever Works might have been redeemed only by the director in the starring role.
Original Score: 2.5/4