Where I Watched It: Amazon

English Audio Description?: no

If you are trying to see if you can tackle a film without audio description, Woody Allen is actually one of the writers to try and see how that works. After all, his films pretty much live and die by the dialogue. He’s not really known for extended takes where people are silent and just sit and ponder. His characters advance story and plot through dialogue, so for the most part, the biggest chunk of his works are accessible.

But, for this Allen film, which I watched on a whim as almost some form of completionist task, it does feel like he’s lost his touch. Here, he’s written another forgettable comedy (he actually has a lot of those), and is forcing Timothee Chalamet to play what I’m sure Allen would play himself if he wasn’t so old. If Woody had written this in the 70’s, he’d be in this. The lead character has all the trappings of Allen’s usual characters, and Elle Fanning feels like a stand in for Diane Keaton in many ways.

This was a film that lost distribution due to the Allen V Farrow stuff, and just kinda died in very limited release. It’s funny that I watched this on Amazon, since Allen famously sued them for terminating their contract without cause. Technically, he’s never been convicted of anything, and I believe Amazon settled. I’m not 100% sure. But I think that was settled out of court. So, for his film to wind up on Amazon after they dropped it is so bizarre.

Whether you like Allen or not, this isn’t a good film anyway. In the film world, I try not to punish the hundreds of people who worked on the film because of one person, that way all the below the line talent that worked hard to create costumes, set pieces, lighting, and all the things we don’t always think about get a chance to have their work seen.

But with this, it’s not the lack of audio description that hampers the film, it’s more like Allen has run out of ideas. I didn’t feel like there was really anything interesting about this, and while it’s been a minute since Allen really contributed something terrific to my “best films” list, this one just goes in the bin with some of his more forgettable comedies like Curse of The Jade Scorpion, Small Time Crooks, or Magic in The moonlight. The actors keep this from being awful, it’s just not a film that has anything to offer, nor does it have a voice of its own. It feels like a film someone would make “in the style of” Allen, but not something worth his time. He’s now become a copycat of himself.

I’m sure you have already made up your mind about this film before the review, but Timothee Chalamet has fans, and I’m sure they are really struggling with whether or not to break protocol here. Honestly, he’s better in just about everything else. Here, he’s just a stand in for Allen, because even Woody realizes he can’t play the lover of Elle Fanning on screen.

Not my least favorite of his, but it’s close.

Final Grade: C-