The result is a stew that is not as satisfying as the gumbo which Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) gets to enjoy
Comment
10/08/09
Whatever Works (2009)
47
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:123
Fresh:58
Rotten:65
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: Based upon a script written in the 1970s, Woody Allen's Whatever Works suffers from a lack of fresh ideas.
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $5,183,644
Synopsis: The New York-based humor of Woody Allen and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIAM’s Larry David seems like a natural match, and the pair unite for the first time in this comedy. WHATEVER WORKS follows a rich man... [More]
Starring: Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley
Director: Woody Allen
Reviews for Whatever Works
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Top CriticIn the end, Whatever Works just about does work, though there’s an awkwardness about it that is never quite dispelled.
10/14/09
Top CriticFans of Allen's work should be happy to find him back in Manhattan, still exploring the meaning of his existence through some typically funny one-liners.
10/11/09
Top CriticVicious laughs and smart shots at our "enlightened" humanity abound, but a nasty current of misanthropy overpowers Woody' latest work.
10/11/09
Top CriticWhatever Works is funnier than anything he's done in a long time -- funny in the robust vaudevillian manner of Groucho Marx.
10/15/09
Top CriticI really enjoyed the film. It's not Allen's best and there is a theatricality that keeps us at arm's length; despite the highly successful direct to camera confidences, which are surprisingly endearing. Allen has knitted together a sweater of angst
10/08/09
Top CriticI actually quite enjoyed this, except this sort of constant rant: the contempt he has for humanity and yadda yadda yadda.
10/14/09
Top CriticAllen wrote the script almost 40 years ago, and then voluntarily shelved it because studios at the time expressed doubts about its quality. If it wasn’t good enough back then, why drag it out now?
10/14/09
Top CriticWoody Allen’s supposedly undiscovered masterpiece is a complete failure, featuring a one-note performance from the usually hilarious Larry David.
10/13/09
Top CriticFor now, [Allen] has given up making films that are about anything bigger than a quirky theme and a few dozen one-liners.
06/19/09
[T]he stiffness of David's performance gives one renewed appreciation for Allen's sometimes overlooked acting abilities.... But Allen continues to write the best jokes in the business.
07/31/09
This is pretty broad stuff, but Clarkson is so much more vital and amiable than anyone else that you instantly root for her.
06/15/09
Top CriticIt’s no secret that I am a lifelong Woody Allen fan.
06/22/09
It’s consistently very funny, sharp and observant.
06/22/09
I know it is not as fashionable to say this as it once was, but I love Woody Allen.
06/19/09
A more mean spirited but still very funny film aimed mainly at Woody'searly period devotees that includes a spirited turn by Evan Rachel Wood.
09/08/09
Whatever Works isn't topnotch Woody Allen, but it's still immensely funny.
07/03/09
Whatever Works transcends Allen formulas thanks to David, who is taller, balder and more foul-mouthed than the usual types Allen himself has played.
04/24/09
It is a once-more-into-the-void cosmic shrug of the shoulders by a man whose films, almost more than any other American director's, reflect his world view.
07/03/09
Minor, to be sure, but Woody Allen's most unabashedly sunny movie in years.
06/18/09
Latest News for Whatever Works
June 18, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Year One Fails To Beget Laughs
This week at the movies, we've got Biblical bloopers (Year One, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera) and an engagement of convenience (The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and... More...
May 10, 2009:
Trailer Bulletin: Whatever Works 
Larry David steps in as Woody Allen's latest on-screen surrogate in "Whatever Works," due out June 19. Watch the trailer now! More...
May 10, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review
More...
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