July 3, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

schnook. We seriously doubt that this paircan achieve a happily ever after romcommatch, and we watch as these genial performersare put through all-too-predictablepaces. Management should have definitelybeen called on to make some adjustments.– Marjorie Baumgarten★★ ArborWHATEVER WORKS D: WoodyAllen; with Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, PatriciaClarkson, Ed Begley Jr., Henry Cavill, Michael McKean,Conleth Hill. (PG-13, 92 min.)After five years of making films abroad,Allen returns to his old stomping groundsof Manhattan for his latest comedy,Whatever Works. The lead character, BorisYellnikoff, is a familiar Allen curmudgeon,but instead of casting himself as he sooften does, Allen this time casts Seinfeldand Curb Your Enthusiasm’s David as hisonscreen narrator substitute (who, intypical Allen film mode, frequently speaksdirectly to the audience). Crankier butnot as neurotic as most of Allen’s maleleads, Yellnikoff is a misanthropic misfitof the highest order. A genius and formerscientist, Yellnikoff now lives by himself ina crummy apartment in Chinatown (havingdivested himself of a wife to whomhe felt too well-matched and a fine apartmentin Beekman Place). Yellnikoff earnsa living teaching chess to youngsters andspends his leisure time hanging out withhis friends in restaurants, argumentativelypontificating on all that comes within hispurview. Into his life tumbles naive waifMelodie St. Ann Celestine (Wood), aSouthern beauty-pageant princess who’sbecome a New York City runaway. She begshim for food, and his inner marshmallowinvites her up to his apartment for a meal,which turns into a place to sleep – and,before you know it, marriage. The movie’sconceit is that this guileless Mississippiinnocent, who laps up every one ofYellnikoff’s misanthropic assertions as apearl of wisdom, is his perfect romanticfoil. (Only for one brief moment, when theuse of Viagra is casually mentioned, mustwe contemplate the idea of sex betweenthese otherwise platonic two, whose agedifference is greater than four decades.It’s also best not to dwell too intently onAllen’s stereotypical portrait of Southernersas Bible-thumping know-nothings; his narrativelicense is egregious, but then again,the story’s told from a misanthrope’sperspective.) In time, Melodie’s mother(scene-stealing Clarkson) arrives in NewYork, followed later by her father (BegleyJr.), and both characters undergo their ownwild transformations under the spell ofthe Big Apple. Their tangential story arcseventually upstage those of Yellnikoff andMelodie, to the detriment of the movieas a whole. Allen’s greatest problem asa writer-director is the speed with whichhe cranks out movies, allowing himselfinsufficient time to hone a script’s raggededges or work scenes through with hisactors. Nevertheless, Wood finds her ownequilibrium in the character of Melodie,mixing sincere naivete with bouncy selfassurednessto create a leading lady who’severy bit the equal of the other actresses(Diane Keaton, Dianne Wiest, PenélopeCruz) who’ve gone on to win Oscars fortheir work in Allen’s films. Populated withscores of witty one-liners and excellent performancesby David and Wood, WhateverWorks feels more like a Woody Allen moviethan have many of his recent films. Still, fora movie that goes out of its way to mockthe pious self-delusions of Frank Capra’sclassic It’s a Wonderful Life, Whatever Worksoffers us an ending that practically insultsour intelligence. Consider our enthusiasmcurbed.– Marjorie Baumgarten★★★■Arbor, Dobiefirst runs*Full-length reviews available online ataustinchronicle.com. Dates at end of reviewsindicate original publication date.ANGELS & DEMONS D: Ron Howard;The Da Vinci Code’s symbologist, RobertLangdon (Hanks), returns in Angels & Demons,with Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, StellanSkarsgård, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, ArminMueller-Stahl, Thure Lindhardt, David Pasquesi. (PG-13,138 min.)another Roman Catholic Church conspiracy piecefrom bestseller Dan Brown, as do many of thesame calling cards of the first: oogly boogly menin vestments, foreign-speaking lady sidekicks, andelaborate puzzles teased in dead languages. Thebulk of Angels & Demons takes place in chasemode. A couple of sequences stand out as suspensefuland smartly rendered, but something’ssurely amiss, especially in a production of thisscale, with this kind of talent at the helm, whenthese are exceptional instances and not the norm.Screenwriters David Koepp and Akiva Goldsmandon’t require, or even particularly encourage, theaudience to use its own gray cells in unravelingthe plot (which mostly consists of Hanks pointingat an ancient text or crumbling cathedral andmuttering something explanatory), so the onlythrill here comes from the adrenaline kick of thechase. Alas, it’s an empty, Pavlovian kick at best.(05/15/2009) – Kimberley Jones★★ Arbor, Metropolitanopenings& ratingsPublic Enemies (R)Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG)Kambakkht Ishq (NR)Management (R)Whatever Works (PG-13) As perfect as a moviecan be Slightly flawed, butexcellent nonetheless Has its good points,and its bad points Mediocre, but with oneor two bright spots Poor, without anysaving gracesLa bombaCOLUMBIA PICTURES PRESENTS AN OCEAN PICTURES/APATOW COMPANY PRODUCTIONA FILM BY HAROLD RAMIS “YEAR ONE”MUSICEXECUTIVEOLIVER PLATT DAVID CROSSAND HANK AZARIAPRODUCER RODNEY ROTHMAN STORYBY THEODORE SHAPIROBY HAROLD RAMISBY HAROLD RAMIS & GENE STUPNITSKY & LEE EISENBERG PRODUCED BY HAROLD RAMIS JUDD APATOW CLAYTON TOWNSENDDIRECTEDBY HAROLD RAMISSCREENPLAYNOW PLAYINGCHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMESa u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m JULY 3, 2009 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 69