CINEMA GELATO: a review of "To Rome With Love"

 

"TO ROME WITH LOVE"

Written and Directed by Woody Allen

*** 1/2 (three and a half stars) 

I certainly do not envy the creative life of the prolific artist.

On the one hand, I am always fascinated with those artists who are seemingly able to always have their creative faucets turned on. There are musicians I treasure, like Ryan Adams or Billy Corgan or especially Prince, for instance, who never seem to be thirsting for new ideas. Every time you turn around, they have something new to experience and while the bean counters may complain about "saturating the market," for a fan like myself, I am always anxious to hear whatever is next for all of it is part of an artistic journey that I feel so fortunate that they are willing to share with the world. But, still, it is a journey, which means that if you are a fan, and are willing to go along for the ride they have set up for us, we should be inclined to travel along any of their artistic peaks and valleys. Sometimes those artistic stops may prove to be frustrating head scratchers, some may be confounding, confusing, more difficult than we may have wished but then, as if by some act of magic or symbiotic alchemy, their vision and our reactions converge beautifully. 

With the movies, it would be hard pressed to find a filmmaker more prolific than Woody Allen, who somehow is able to exist in a constant state of creation, releasing a film almost annually. Of course, not every release can be cinematic gold, not something that is always easy to remember as a fan or audience member. But still, this is a journey, for ourselves as well as the artist in question. For someone like Woody Allen, I have to wonder if it is ever difficult for him, even to this day, knowing that the audience may not always perceive his artistic life as a journey--over-praising and over-criticizing everything regardless of any reference points and only fueled by the individual's own desires and tastes. When Allen releases a dramatic film, people still complain that it's not funny enough. When he releases a comedy, people complain that it carries no weight. And for Pete's sakes, I would hate to be on the receiving end of the amount of expectations he happens to be up against when he releases the first film after one that has been so enormously embraced by the critics and the public, like last year's wonderful "Midnight In Paris." Well...Woody Allen, ever the unapologetically intrepid artist, has returned with his 42nd film, "To Rome With Love," a quartet of stories with The City Of Fountains as a rapturous backdrop. Of course, the very first question I am certain you would ask me is the following: Is it as good as "Midnight In Paris"? To that, I would answer that this new film is not in that league. But again, how could it be? Can every film Woody Allen releases be a masterpiece? Of course not. All of that being said, I enjoyed this film so very much as it features Woody Allen at his most playful, with a strong cast game to play with him. And on a hot summer afternoon or evening, I would be hard pressed to find a film currently screening that is more inviting, fun, luxuriously enjoyable and entertaining than this one.

After a brief introduction from an Italian traffic officer set to the strains of the classic song "Volare," "To Rome With Love" quickly introduces us into four different stories that Allen intercuts with each other. One vignette stars Alison Pill as Hayley, an American tourist in Rome who meets and falls in love with the kindly young attorney, Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti). Their relationship soon grows serious enough to have Hayley's parents, Phyllis and Jerry (Judy Davis and Woody Allen, his first screen appearance since 2006), arrive for a visit with Michelangelo's parents. As the fussy Jerry struggles with his retirement from his career in the music industry, he witnesses a chance for continued lucrative opportunities after over-hearing Michelangelo's mortician Father, Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliato) singing glorious opera in the shower.

The second vignette features the misadventures of Antonio and Milly (played by Alessandro Tiberi and the adorable Alessandra Mastronardi), a nervous newlywed couple arriving in Rome for a crucial meeting with upper crust relatives with the hopes of Antonio obtaining a big city job. Through a series of misunderstandings, Antonio and Milly are separated for the entire day with Antonio attempting to pass off Anna the prostitute (Penelope Cruz) as his wife, while Milly is romanced by Luca Salta (Antonio Albanese), a beloved and legendary movie star.

The third escapade features Alec Baldwin as John, an architect vacationing in Rome, where he once lived thirty years prior. As he strolls the streets, he happens upon Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), a young architect living in Rome with his girlfriend Sally (Greta Gerwig) and soon to be hosting Sally's friend Monica (Ellen Page), the neurotic, struggling actress who projects an irresistibly sexually voracious aura to which Jack finds himself uncontrollably drawn towards.

The fourth tale stars Roberto Benigni as Leopoldo Pisanello, an average, everyday middle class office worker with a wife and children who inexplicably becomes famous throughout Italy with paparazzi following his every single move, with statuesque women fawning all over him and the entire nation desiring access to his every moment and thought, no matter how innocuous. 

For those of you who typically wish to just spend a night out at the movies with nothing more to think about than simply being entertained, and furthermore, without any sort of juvenile, special effects driven antics and adventure, then, believe me, I cannot think of a film playing right now that would better suited to fit your cinematic needs than "To Rome With Love." Woody Allen has delivered a beautifully filmed, frothy, inoffensive, airy delight that is just meant for you to sit back, relax and soak yourself inside of, like a wonderful warm bath or better yet, the most succulent dessert. There is not one moment that is terribly taxing or one that forces you into any worlds of unpleasantness or thoughts you would rather not wish to have when you go to the movies. "To Rome With Love" is a fun, lovely, sexy, romantic movie that, as with Allen's other European themed films, may inspire you to travel. Nothing more. Nothing less. And sometimes, what else could you possibly want, especially when it is presented this well?

I will have to say that not everything works in "To Rome With Love." Some sequences drag a bit. Other sequences feel more obvious than perhaps they should. Some conceits may not feel as fresh as they could. But even so, if you do find your interest waning here and there, never fear, for a new beguiling pop confection will arrive momentarily. And besides, Allen is in no rush. He's in no hurry to arrive at any pre-conceived destination, if there is any destination at all. I think he just wants us to sit and stay a while and enjoy the moments in Rome along with this collective of characters. Incidentally, two of the four vignettes are conducted almsot entirely in Italian. That aspect of the film is one I found to be so pleasurable as you can just sit and lose yourself in the sound of this glorious language, allowing the words, phrases and even syllables flow from one to the next, all the while creating a sumptuous spell. Perhaps, Allen is trying to get us hurried and rushed Americans into a more European state of mind and being.

Now, of course, Woody Allen being Woody Allen, he would not intentionally present a new film, even as light as this one, to the point where it would take off and fade forgettably into the ether. In fact, the original title (one I wish he actually kept) for the film was "The Bop Decameron," a play upon Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron, a 14th century collection of tales of love and life lessons. That detail certainly does seem to frame "To Rome With Love" fairly well as all four stories deal with various matters concerning love, sex, marriage, desire, romance, affairs and commitment and all within comic twists of fate, Shakespearian styled farce and a fairly bawdy style, especially during the segments which feature the travails of Antonio and Missy. With the story of Jack, Sally, the alluring Monica and the improbably ever present John, "To Rome With Love" takes its magical air and turns it into something more poignant as we can question if the events unspooling in front of us are truly happening at all or if these are the melancholic remembrances of an older man back to his younger years and the mistakes he once made. Or are they even a bit of both? I think it is here where "To Rome With Love" stands strongest as I could easily see this story being fleshed out into a full length feature of its own and Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page never struck even one false note.

Additionally, the stories give Allen a chance to re-visit his themes of celebrity and fame. most specifically the allure, pleasures and curses of being trapped in the fishbowl of constant public surveillance and scrutiny. The story of Jerry and the mortician with the golden operatic voice take the theme to its most absurd, while simultaneously existing as the tale of two older men reaching for just one more brass ring in their twilight years. In this section, I have to say that it was a great pleasure to see Woody Allen on screen one more time, in his signature role, delivering those snappy one-liners in his own inimitable fashion. The large audience I saw this film with gave an instant chuckle of recognition at his first appearance and that good will seemed to carry throughout the remainder of the film.

As I have previously written on this site, I feel that Woody Allen's muse has been wonderfully rejuvenated since he began making films in Europe seven years ago. There must be something with the complete change in scenery that has forced him to sharpen his creative energy and for a film enthusiast and Woody Allen fan like myself, this particular period has brought out some especially fine material. And to that end, I don't think that I have enjoyed a series of Woody Allen films this much since an especially strong streak of films he released during the 1990's which included "Husbands and Wives" (1992), "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1993) and the wonderful "Bullets Over Broadway" (1994). Over these past seven years, Allen has now made four films in London, one film in Spain, one in Paris and now Rome and for my money, the weakest film he has released during this stretch was the enjoyable but somewhat too lightweight for its own good "Whatever Works" (2009), the one film he shot in New York.

Whatever the world traveling has accomplished for him, I hope that keeps his creatve, prolific spirit fully charged, ensuring that his artistic journey continues to be fruitful for many more years to come. And I wish to be able to keep traveling along with him, especially if the work is as purely enjoyable as "To Rome With Love."