Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) argues that since parents send their children to sports camps, magic camps and other specialty camps, they should instead send their children to concentration camps.  At least concentration camps would provide valuable life lessons. Although part of the humor is in the delivery, your reaction to this line is probably a good predictor of whether you will enjoy Whatever Works. Woody Allen’s latest effort takes him back to New York, with an old screenplay originally written for Zero Mostel. I am not yet sure where Whatever Works ranks in the panoply of Allen’s films, but Woody’s words in the mouths of this excellent cast elicited hearty laughter from the depths of my neurotic Jewish soul.

Boris is a self proclaimed genius who used to teach at Columbia University, but now ekes out a living tutoring young children in chess, using an approach that alternates between yelling insults at the children and dumping chess pieces on their heads. He lives alone and has no interest in romance or sex, and spends most of his time complaining to his three friends (Adam Brooks, Lyle Kanouse and Michael McKean) in various downscale New York eateries. Boris’s life changes when Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood), a naive runaway from Mississippi, convinces Boris to let her stay with him for a few days. Their relationship takes some unexpected turns, and when Melodie’s parents, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) and John (Ed Begley Jr.), follow her to New York, Boris’s life really gets complicated.

As Allen grew older, he began to cast younger actors like Kenneth Branagh, John Cusack and Jason Biggs as the “Woody Allen” character. Even Rebecca Hall (Vicky) in Vicky Cristina Barcelona  spoke in a kind of “Woody” speak. Larry David is a refreshing and unusual choice; he is younger that Allen, but much older than these younger actors. Perhaps when a younger Allen wrote this screenplay, Boris was his idea of an aging Woody Allen.  Whatever the reason, Boris is blunter and meaner than previous Allen characters, and David hits just the right notes. Fans of David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (I plead guilty) will attest to the charm of his anti-charm. Somehow, Boris’s misanthropy is very funny, and this is a credit to David’s performance as well as to Allen’s dialogue. As Boris’s relationship with Melodie deepens, he still refers to most people as inchworms, but David allows us to see Boris’s vulnerability. David uses subtle changes in his voice and facial expressions to register Boris’s  growth, and Boris somehow becomes likable.

The performances by the rest of the cast are all excellent. Evan Rachel Wood keeps getting better and better, and after intense roles in The Wrestler and Across the Universe, it is nice to see her in a comedic role.  Wood’s Melodie is innocent, but not stupid or cloying. When she espouses Boris’s negative philosophy using her Southern accent, we see why Boris is charmed by her.  Ed Begley Jr. plays John with a sincerity that keeps John from being a caricature. His conversation with a gay man in a bar is very funny, but true to his character. Adam Brooks, Lyle Kanouse and Michael McKean, look and act like they would be friends with someone like Boris.  Even Daily Show reporter Samantha Bee has a funny cameo.

But the best performance in the film belongs to Patricia Clarkson. Clarkson had a small role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and her performance obviously impressed Allen enough to cast her as Marietta. Clarkson is funny and sexy, both when Marietta is an inebriated southern belle and later when she becomes a sophisticated artist. All of her scenes are fun to watch, and she is an especially good foil for David’s Boris.  Marietta and Boris dislike each other immediately, and that makes David and Clarkson’s scenes together even more fun.

Allen revisits his familiar themes of self loathing, fear of death, religious skepticism and negative view of human nature.   As in other films, the main character talks to the camera, but in this case, he refers to the patrons in the theater.  But this material still seems fresh and new, perhaps because Allen is looking at New York with fresh eyes after filming several movies in England and Spain. 

Like Boris, Allen takes a dim view of humanity, yet he loves magic. Whatever Works, like many of Allen’s films, contains references to magic, beginning when Melodie offers to perform a magic trick with scarves for Boris.  She never does the trick with the scarves, but she does bring magic to Boris’s life. Allen once said, “The only hope any of us have is magic.” It is this element that keeps Boris, and the other characters, from seeming bitter and instead makes them endearing.  Will I carry Whatever Works with me like Annie Hall, Everyone Says I Love You, Hannah and Her Sisters and other Woody Allen favorites? Maybe not,  but it is funny and oddly optimistic, and as I walked out of the theater and into the warm summer night, I felt good.

Whatever Works.  Directed by Woody Allen. Larry David (Boris Yellnikoff), Evan Rachel Wood (Melodie St. Anne Celestine), Patricia Clarkson (Marietta), Ed Begley Jr. (John), Adam Brooks (Boris Friend One), Lyle Kanouse (Boris Friend Two), Michael McKean (Joe), Henry  Cavill (Randy James), and Samantha Bee (Chess Mother). Sony Pictures Classics, 2009.

 

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

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