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.
2 Comments
07/03/09
Whatever Works (2009)
47
%
Tomatometer
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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
If anyone else had made this unromantic comedy, they'd be accused of ripping off Manhattan. Since it was made by Allen, let's just accuse him of not having many fresh ideas in the past three decades.
07/03/09
The working title for Whatever Works should have been 'The Heart Wants What it Wants.
07/03/09
So long as you don't hurt anybody and adapt to a New York state of mind... "whatever works"
07/03/09
A spoonful of Melody St. Ann Celestine helps the misanthrophy go down.
07/03/09
The role of Boris was written for Zero Mostel, who just might have been able to pull it off. But with David instead of vulnerable humanity you get a lot of agitated monologues...
07/03/09
This toxic, contemptuous, unforgivably unfunny bagatelle finds Allen at his most misanthropically one-note.
07/02/09
Top CriticIf Allen's recent deviations from his formula have been enough of a palate-cleanser for fans -- or, better, if you've just taken a break from him for a while -- the film has plenty of laughs.
07/02/09
It appears 73-year-old Woody Allen finally drew the line and elected to pair 21-year-old Evan Rachel Wood with someone closer to her own age. So he sent in 62-year-old Larry David to pinch-hit.
07/02/09
Preachy, nihilistic, derogatory and unfocused.
07/01/09
Approaches the line that's ever-present in Allen's films dividing funny misanthropy from sour misanthropy, and tramples all over it.
06/29/09
If you want to see Larry David limp around and see his view of 'the glass is probably covered with diseases so who cares if it's half empty or half full,' then go along for this ride.
06/29/09
Whatever Works is reminiscent of Allen's much-loved films about relationships in Manhattan in which comedy vies with angst, with a soupçon of Jewish humor.
06/27/09
I am a huge Woody Allen fan, but I had a hard time with Whatever Works.
06/27/09
Part of Boris' worldview seems to be to excuse the movie in which he stars. Try not to overthink it, Allen seems to say: just enjoy it.
06/26/09
A more vibrant film than Allen's worst but the screenwriting mistakes and general misanthropy hold it back from being anywhere near his best.
06/26/09
Larry David is a keeper.
06/26/09
The dialogue is forced and stagey, the actions as predictable as they are improbable and the insights little more than dusty clichés.
06/26/09
It never registers as more than a writer's conceit.
06/26/09
We've seen this kind of May-December setup in many Allen movies, but this one follows a less predictable path and with more amusing secondary characters.
06/26/09
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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