Whatever Works

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Whatever Works

64% Liked It
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Whatever Works

Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Henry Cavill, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley Jr

An eccentric New Yorker (Larry David) abandons his upper class life to lead a more bohemian existence. He meets a young girl from the south and her family, and no two people seem to get along in the e...( read more  read more... )ntanglements that follow.

Id: 11023808

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Whatever Works Recent Reviews
  • rebvodka042099
    December 12, 2009
    rebvodka042099
    For everyone who knows my movie tastes well enough, they'll know that Woody Allen isn't a director I'd list amongst the ones I admire - maybe because I have great difficulty separating his private life from his movie-making one.

    I haven't seen a good Woody Allen film in years - ...( read more)decades! After The curse of the Jade Scorpio he's on a constant decline. And he knows so. Thus, he digs up a script he wrote 30 years ago and serves it to us. It's not funny, not particularly interesting, and it only chews over what we've been seeing from Woody Allen since he knew how to make movies.

    There were a few good lines, smart storyline, but it's a movie I'd expect to see from practically any director - because it was THAT easy to make. The characters were indifferent, the ending was sappy, and overall - if we force it - it was mildly enjoyable.
  • franktowers
    December 10, 2009
    franktowers
    adorable fun movie, does drag a little
  • sykora259517
    November 25, 2009
    sykora259517
    (w/ Henry. Cavil & OMG he gets to keep his accent in it!! grrrowl)- Ok not sur eif anyone else would find is funny. But this is suppose to be a rom-com (romantic comedy) Well Henry is not in it much. There?s parts that I wish moved a long a bit faster. Oh yeah & if the Old guy wa...( read more)s suppose to be female then I should have those lines! Cause ½ the crap the guy says sounds like me. (or maybe ¼ of it) my 1st NETFLIX movie !! So I?ll let ya?s know in a month or 2 how I like it. Tehre were a few parts that I thought were funny, not hilarious funny but ok. Its more of a Relax movie than anything. C
  • sononothing
    November 14, 2009
    sononothing
    Whatever Works follows the life of Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David), a genius physicist who blows all that stuff off to teach kids how to play chess and spread the good will of his philosophy to the masses. Cynical to the extreme. One night while returning to his ram shackled apart...( read more)ment he stumbles on a Southern teenager living on the streets named Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood), who Boris reluctantly helps and develops into a disciple of his own Borisology. Of course, the two end up falling in love and getting married with the most shocked party being Boris himself. The problems arise when Boris' new in-laws that are obviously of the red state mentality are thrust into the way of life in NYC- and make Boris' life a living hell.

    Whatever Works represents a turning point in Woody Allen's career. The film breathes like some of his best stuff from the '70's and '80's, but he's realized one important fact- he is too old to play himself anymore. Boris is so blatantly Allen that it should be announced before the film that "the role usually reserved for Woody Allen will tonight be played by Larry David. You can obviously hear these lines come from Woody Allen's mouth ten or fifteen years ago. Larry David fills in fine and seems to know when to let his inner Woody come out and when to pull a Costanza.

    The rest of the cast is very good with Wood playing the naive southern belle up for all its worth, giving a comedic turn that I haven't seen from her. Patricia Clarkson plays Melodie's mother who succumbs to the "hedonism" of New York City and instead of making dinners for her husband (an awesome Ed Begley, Jr.) decides to become a photographer and enter into a relationship where she lives with two men. That damn NYC!

    Whatever Works is a Woody Allen movie. love him or hate him, he makes a good movie here or there. This isn't one of his greatest films, but it's definitely not one of the worst and has some very funny moments, usually coming from Boris' mouth. Being your typical Allen movie the characters go through a series of hellish, obscure, defining events, but in the end there's a moral to the story that you can either take with you or send off to neuron oblivion.
  • DrZeek
    November 12, 2009
    DrZeek
    Marietta: How'd he get that limp?
    Melodie St. Ann Celestine: He jumped out the window and his suicide didn't work.
    Marietta: You can't win 'em all.

    Woody Allen returns to New York after a few stints over in Europe. Working from a screenplay he wrote back in the 70s with Ze...( read more)ro Mostel in mind for the lead, it has been reworked a bit and now has Larry David in the lead, as the Woody Allen character. I wasn't a fan of the framing device used for the film, with David breaking the fourth wall, but for the most part, the film had a very classic Allen feel to it, good use of character actors, and a number of good zingers.

    David stars as Boris Yelnikoff, an eccentric, bitter chess teacher from Greenwich Village. A few years ago, he wakes up in the middle of the night with a panic attack and jumps out the window, but lands on a canopy and survives with only a marked limp. He soon divorces his wife and virtually secludes himself from the world, criticizing everyone he meets for not having his level of intellect.

    One night, he finds a young woman, Melody played by Evan Rachel Wood, from Mississippi lying on his doorstep. He takes her in for the night and eventually marries her, despite their 40 year age difference and their clashing cultural backgrounds. His philosophy on the matter is that life is short so he might as well enjoy himself.

    Eventually, Boris' happy mold is broken once Melody's parents, played by Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr., track her down and one by one come to Boris' door, only to discover New York living for themselves.

    John: [as he kneels down to pray] Lord I've sinned, please forgive me!
    Boris Yellnikoff: Why do all the religious psychotics wind up praying in my doorstep?

    I think the cast of this movie is very good. David in the Allen role, works for me. I could use less of his direct to camera tirades against everything, but the way the Melody character counter-balances this aspect certainly helps.

    All the Allen trademarks are here, including the use of jazz and classical music, characters with smart, analytical dialog, despite there personas, as well as using New York culture as a setting and source of character transformation. All this being said, the film does become a bit sitcomy once the parents arrive, especially Begely Jr (as much as I like seeing him in things).

    Still, the movie is entertaining and humorous, which is what I wanted and what works.

    Boris Yellnikoff: That's why I can't say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace, whatever works.
  • 5oclockcoffee
    December 13, 2009
    5oclockcoffee
    A few funny moments, but full of common places.
    Maybe Woody Allen´s latest movies reflect and dialogue with our (meaningless) current time. Whatever works or not, I miss the old good times when Allen was able to set interesting characters and dialogues in a charming New York Ci...( read more)ty.

    * Maybe a month later, after having rewatched it several times, I like it more and more. Yes, it is full of common places, but that´s (also) the funny about it. Melody Saint Anne Celestine is such a cliche, but "folks, as Boris would say: whatever works".


  • viniciusbracin
    December 12, 2009
    viniciusbracin
    a primeira metade é genial, depois perde um pouco da graça, mas nada que atrapalhe.
  • rayld02
    December 11, 2009
    rayld02

    Larry David to Evan Rachel Wood, "That's the most disgusting story I've ever heard!" in "Whatever Works".

    Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" is an effective comedy, with witty screenplay and...( read more) actors that drive you nuts. One short story in high school that I cheerfully remembered when I watched this film, Max Shulman's "Love is a Fallacy".

    Boris Yelnikoff (Larry David) is a genius, literally a genius with an IQ of not less than 200. He has this tendency to become ultra-discriminating, with too many philosophies, sometimes obsessive-compulsive. Larry in the beginning of the film talks with his fellow oldies at a sidewalk similar to that certain scenes from Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing". He says that there are some people who paid for tickets to watch them talking. He then turns to a seemingly invisible camera and narrates his childhood and the very nature of his being genius.

    Boris meets a young beautiful but odd lady named Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood who begs for something to eat. But with some convincing strategies, she has convinced Boris to let her stay for a night in his house.

    Everyday, Boris discovers that he is falling in love with the woman of whom he didn't even think he'd be falling in love with. The two later get married. Boris teaches Melodie of things, and the latter religiously puts everything inside her head, and she tries to understand the complexities of her husband. On the other hand, Boris gets used to "submentalism" / dumbness of his wife. The two always have conflicting ideas but it is always Boris' that would prevail in the end.

    Melodie loves Boris so much. But when asked why, her answer would have always been because of Boris is a genius. I guess she has never found the true love she might be looking for. She's so in love with idea that a genius fell in love with someone like her. And not considering that Boris is also bound to love as a human being.

    This film is an explicit and undeniably a bold step into modern film making. The film says so much about anything and everything but it only revolves around a certain conclusion. Perfect is just inside one's head, because perfect does not exist. Because when a person is born, he is bound to flaws and imperfections, more than one can imagine. So a genius doesn't necessarily know everything. They might be having big storage for memory and their brain processes a number of times than a normal brain does, but the fact that humans are humans is another thing to be most aware of.

    The film, like any of Woody Allen's story revolves mainly about relationships - romantic, sexual, social, spiritual, intellectual, and so on. This is evident in some films like "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", "Match Point", "Annie Hall", "Scoop", "Oedipus Wrecks", "Cassandra's Dream", and many more. The very funny and intelligent screenplay is what I always like about his films, and I never get tired of hearing stories from this man.
  • Brn2Fly84
    December 10, 2009
    Brn2Fly84
    well, let's see... at first I wanted to watch it because of Henry Cavill's appearence, and at the beginning of the movie I really didn't like Boris' character that much especially because he complains about every single breath he takes and it seems like he is determined to underr...( read more)ate his and eveybody elses mere existence, but, it has a pretty nice end and everybody gets what they want and deserve.
  • meggyes381
    December 10, 2009
    meggyes381
    The movie is simply good..
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