The latest Woody Allen movie wants to teach us what the conservative movement has been believing for a long time: that people would rather be happy with simple illusions than unhappy with complex realities. Nietzsche said that we had art because we would die of too much reality. Ironically, Allen has made much art to demonstrate this sad point.
I found You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger to be a lot of fun, but it is cynical, in a sort of off-hand way. Allen's earlier movies (like Hannah and her Sisters and Purple Rose of Cairo) made the point that art was worthwhile because it made life bearable. His characters grappled with meaninglessness but found needed solace in humour, music and movies. This movie goes in a darker direction, saying that life is meaningless and only our most ridiculous illusions can sustain us. In fact, the more pathetic the illusion, the more happiness we are likely to get out of it. Sadly, though, these illusions don't usually hold and need to be updated from time to time.
This point is demonstrated through the lives of two married couples (played by Josh Brolin and Naomi Watts and by Anthony Hopkins and Gemma Jones). The movie pushes ahead quickly, so we do not spend a lot of time with any one character. I wish Woody Allen would slow down to show us his characters' lives a little more clearly: as with Match Point and other recent movies, I sometimes feel that the movies are too formally structured and there isn't time or reason to fully show us who these characters are. He should remember that we didn't need to know that Annie Hall used black soap, but there was a certain joy in finding out anyway. While we can admire the control of the movie, it feels a little less alive for being so neatly ordered.
The direction and camera work is very good. The scenes in the younger couple's apartment perfectly capture the claustrophobia of their lives, with the camera rushing from room to room. These scenes reminded me of the sisters' argument around the lunch table in Hannah and her Sisters, which I think is among my favourites in his films.
The script is often clever and not too jokey -- but it does not always ring true. As with all his latter movies, we are sometimes aware of Allen's limited experiences outside his own milieu, and his dialogue can occasionally sound cartoony or just strangely out-of-character. "Exotic!" replies Josh Brolin's character (an intellectual living in central London) when his Indian neighbour, Dia, introduces herself.
Still, the actors are consistently charming. Anthony Hopkins plays against type as someone unfocused, defeated, lost. Perhaps the longest scene in the movie is Naomi Watts trying on earrings in an upscale boutique, and I wish she had tried on another few pairs. Although Woody Allen has suggested that Scarlett Johansson has been his muse of late, I would suggest Ms. Watts as a better choice. Finally, Lucy Punch, who I haven't seen in anything before this, is a stand-out as the money-chasing call girl. Her every gesture is perfection: she makes even an adjustment to her bangs into something both hilarious and touching. In the end, we don't feel that Woody Allen judges the characters too harshly for their illusions.
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