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Entertainment news, celebrities lifestyle |
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“Whatever Works” (2009) overview
After the failure of his career, his marriage, and his suicide attempt, Yellnikoff spends his days insulting the small children unfortunate enough to study chess with him and irritating his still-loyal friends with his never-ending tirades about the worthlessness of absolutely everything. Yellnikoff meets a young girl named Melody (Evan Rachel Wood) from the south and her family and no two people seem to get along in the entanglements that follow... Genre: comedy, romance Editors'
rating: Writer (WGA) and director: Woody Allen Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum. Co-producer: Helen Robin. Executive producers: Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval. Co-executive producers: Charles H. Joffe, Jack Rollins Cinematography: Harris Savides. Film editing: Alisa Lepselter. Casting: Ali Farrell, Juliet Taylor, Laura Rosenthal. Production design: Santo Loquasto. Costume design: Suzy Benzinger Budget: $15,000,000 (estimated) Filming dates: April - May 2008 U.S. opening weekend box office: $0.26m | June 21, 2009 | 9 screens Cast Larry David as Boris Yellnikoff Evan Rachel Wood as Melody St. Ann Celestine Patricia Clarkson as Marietta Carolyn McCormick as Jessica Conleth Hill as Leo Brockman Henry Cavill as Randy James Olek Krupa as Morgenstern Ed Begley, Jr. as John Christopher Evan Welch as Howard Jessica Hecht as Helena John Gallagher, Jr. as Perry Adam Brooks as Boris' Friend #1 Lyle Kanouse as Boris' Friend #2 Michael McKean as Joe, Boris' Friend #3 Clifford Lee Dickson as Boy on Street Yolonda Ross as Boy's Mother Samantha Bee as Chess Mother Marcia DeBonis as Lady at Chinese Restaurant Willa Cuthrell-Tuttleman as Chess Girl Nicole Patrick as Perry's Friend Steve Antonucci as Flea Market Shopper Marc Alan Austen as Photo Gallery Patron Julie Basem as Cafe Waitress Chris Nuñez as Concert Goer Quincy Rose as Guy on Bench Kenneth Edelson as Gallery Guest Robin Singer as Indie Rocker Armand Schultz as Television Voice #2 (voice) Lindsay Michelle Nader as Television Voice #1 (voice) Critics' reviews "Whatever Works" is very minor Woody, querulous, fitfully funny, and removed from any shared reality. ... The movie's ostensibly about what happens when this bitter pill takes in a stray: Melody St. Ann Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood), a young runaway from Allen's blinkered idea of the Deep South. Moving onto his couch and into his life against Boris's better judgment, Melody's a perky cheerleader gone bad and she absorbs her savior's bleak pessimism like a sponge. He's all irony and she has none; they're attracted to each other like two magnetic Scotties. ... The character of Melody is thin and wholly untenable... The gag is that only in New York, that cultural island floating serenely off the coast of America, can a soul find its true expression. ... “Whatever Works’’ is the movie equivalent of the famous Saul Steinberg map of America, 12th Avenue followed by Kansas and the Pacific Ocean, and it finds its beating heart in Marietta's grin as she stretches languorously between two lovers in one bed.” - Ty Burr, The Boston Globe In “Whatever Works” it's hard to know where Woody Allen leaves off and Larry David begins. ... In fact, Boris is aptly named: He bores us. ... It's a rehashed tale of a beautiful innocent, Melody St. Ann Celestine who falls for a jaded and screwed-up older man. ... Boris is merely foul-mouthed and narcissistic. ... One of Allen's worst missteps is having Boris address the audience directly by looking into the camera. ... The dialogue, especially his diatribes, is arch and awkward, rarely witty. Boris is awash in finicky observations and nay-saying, but he lacks the pithy humor to take the edge off. Melody is even less believable than the churlish Boris. A runaway former beauty queen with a thick Southern accent, she appears outside his New York apartment and begs Boris to take her in. ... Didn't she ever learn not to talk to strangers, much less go into their homes and eat their food? Within days she's head over heels. ... The irresistible charms of the innocent beauty is a recurring Allen theme. ... Allen is like a miner doggedly re-combing every inch of the Manhattan landscape for comic gold. - Claudia Puig, USA Today A Woody Allen movie about a neurotic, older Jewish guy who falls for a younger, cheerier gentile girl in a New York City bubble of wealth and privileged bohemia? ... Larry David plays a self-absorbed griper named Boris Yellnikoff, with the emphasis on yell. Boris is a pessimist from the universe-is-expanding school of despair, a lifelong miserablist who, screwing up a decent marriage to an attractive, wealthy woman (Carolyn McCormick), can't even commit suicide quietly. After surviving his attempt, he meets a fresh-faced Southern runaway named Melody, then grudgingly takes her in off the street and belittles her as a prelude to marriage. - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly A Jewish intellectual type shrugging his shoulders, looking into the camera, spitting out fancy Latinate words as if he'd just swallowed a thesaurus, while an eager young actress of the moment flits around looks sultry and clueless – execution is everything. ... Allen's unwavering belief in an empty cosmos made somewhat less bleak by the charms of old movies, older music and much younger women is one of the few things left we can count on. ... She [ Melody ] is a homeless Southern waif who follows Boris home one rainy night and, despite his loudly and repeatedly professed lack of interest in her feelings, her opinions, her long legs or her short shorts, falls in love with him. After they marry, things become a bit more complicated... - A.O. Scott, The New York Times Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes. Countries: United States, France. Language: English. Color: Color. Aspect ratio: 1.85 : 1. Sound mix: Dolby Digital (Mono) Certification MPAA rating (certificate #44832): PG-13 for sexual situations including dialogue, brief nude images and thematic material. Canada: 14A (Ontario), G (Quebec), PG (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba). Australia: M. Sweden: Btl. Switzerland: 10 (canton of Vaud, canton of Geneva). France: U. Norway: A. Singapore: M18. Hong Kong: IIB. Netherlands: 6 © Preems.com |
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Premieres United States - April 22, 2009 (Tribeca Film Festival); June 19, 2009 Canada - June 26, 2009 France - July 1, 2009 Sweden - 10 July 10, 2009 Norway - August 28, 2009 Singapore - September 10, 2009 Italy - September 18, 2009 Spain - September 18, 2009 (San Sebastian International Film Festival); October 2, 2009 Belgium - September 30, 2009 Australia - October 15, 2009 Hong Kong - October 15, 2009 Finland - October 23, 2009 Austria - November 3, 2009 (Vienna International Film Festival) Netherlands - November 12, 2009 Estonia - November 13, 2009 Brazil - November 19, 2009 Greece - November 19, 2009 Iceland - November 27, 2009 Germany - December 3, 2009 Denmark - January 1, 2010 Russian Federation - March 4, 2010 Poland - April 9, 2010 Filming locations New York City, NY Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City East Village, Manhattan, New York City Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City Manhattan, New York City Queens, New York City Companies Production Sony Pictures Classics (presents) Gravier Productions Perdido Productions Distribution Sony Pictures Classics / 2009 | USA | theatrical Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / 2009 | USA | DVD, Blu-ray Hopscotch Films / 2009 | Australia | all media >>>> Sony Pictures Classics / 2009 | Canada | all media LineTree / 2009 | South Korea | all media Festive Films / 2009 | Singapore | theatrical Golden Village Pictures / 2009 | Singapore | theatrical Green Light Films / 2009 | Iceland | all media FS Film Oy / 2009 | Finland | all media California Filmes / 2009 | Brazil | all media Paradiso Entertainment / 2009 | Netherlands | theatrical, all media Mars Distribution / 2009 | France | all media >>>> Medusa Distribuzione / 2009 | Italy | all media Paradiso / 2009 | Belgium | all media Audio Visual Entertainment / 2009 | Greece | theatrical ArtCam / 2009 | Czech Republic | all media Paradise/MGN / 2009 | Russian Federation | all media Various services Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment - camera dollies Haddad - transportation equipment Razor & Tie - soundtrack Additional details “Whatever Works” also known as: Kim Kiminle Nerede (Turkey) Tudo Pode dar Certo (Brazil) Liebe Sich Wer Kann (Germany) Basta Che Funzioni (Italy) Jakby Nie Bylo (Poland) Si la Cosa Funciona (Spain) Ki An Sou Katsei? (Greece) Mig og Melody (Denmark) |
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An
eccentric New Yorker Boris Yellnikoff (played by Larry David) abandons
his upper class life to lead a more bohemian existence. A former
Columbia University professor and self-proclaimed genius, Yellnikoff
fancies himself the only one who fully comprehends the meaningless
of all human aspirations, and the pitch-black chaos of the universe.
