Whatever Works

woody returns to new york

first off, i'm a HUGE woody allen fan. even his worst film is generally better than an average one by anyone else. if you're not a fan, don't fucking bother seeing this. it's not for you, i'm almost certain. after his last few films based in europe, he returns to the state that he loves so much, and a story that is quite familiar for woody. in my opinion this is his best film since 'match point'.
larry david plays boris yellnikoff, the latest woody avatar, a "genius" who has no faith in humanity. he hates so many things (almost all of which i agree with by the way) including religion, racism, the nra, dumbing down of humanity, etc. boris basically spouts off a lot of woody's philosophical musings throughout the film, many of which i'm quite familiar with. overall he basically just says, "whatever works", find any love you can out of life and that's all we can hope for. larry is quite good, even if his range is incredibly limited.
boris meets melodie (even rachel wood), a very young 'simpleton' from the south who eventually absorbs his philosophy and they get married. there is a lot more to the story, including melodie's parents discovering their sexuality, melodie finding her true love who loves life the way she does, etc. the film is slight in nature, but very enjoyable to me. my favorite parts are when boris looks at the camera and talks to us. he's the only character who can 'see the big picture'. it's fucking win.