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Whatever Works
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (28th December 2009). |
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The Film
 There are days when I wish I can simply sum up a review in just one word, this is one of those days. If I had to I would sum "Whatever Works" up as "difficult." It was difficult to convince me to watch it, it was difficult to watch and I had difficulty in writing this review... I suppose your enjoyment of this film will largely depend on whether you adore Woody Allen films (and also Larry David for that matter) or simply loath them. I wouldn't call myself a Woody Allen fan, I appreciate his earlier films, but there are plenty that just irritate me. His style is foremost on the list of traits that irritate, his constant babbling, talking right at the camera, his neurotic sensibilities, they simply grate on my nerves and I cannot tolerate it, having to shut the film off 20 minutes in. Woody has however won me over of late, in the last several years he left his familiar New York setting for a more 'posh' British one and delivered a couple of solid films. 2005's "Match Point" was darkly brilliant, "Scoop" (2006) was tolerable and mostly fun, I never saw "Cassandra's Dream" (2007) and while not set in the U.K., "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008) was another winner, just when I thought Woody has won me over, he goes and f**ks it up again with "Whatever Works" returning to his usual schtick and this time making a film with a wholly unlikable character as Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David). "Whatever Works" tells the story of Boris, a curmudgeonly sour old man, who is also a genius... a neurotic asshole of a man that has very little redeeming qualities. It's no wonder why his wife left him, his friends make fun of him behind his back and he lives a rather empty existence making kids cry as he tries to teach them chess. Boris rants, raves and pushes his ideals onto anyone that'll listen... this includes the audience as he breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to us (I wish we could talk back and tell him to shut up!) One day Boris happens upon a young naive runaway, Melodie St. Ann Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood). To the surprise of the audience, he lets the scamp stay at his apartment, and then forms an unlikely friendship with the small town girl trying to live the big life in New York and tries to impress his viewpoint on the girl in an effort to give her a tougher skin. Things inevitably get complicated. It's easy to see that Larry David and Woody Allen make a complimentary match... they both exude that certain "New York quality" that Allen's made his bread and butter now for many years and dozens of films. For better of worse Larry David scampers along like a headless chicken spouting ideals and theories, scathing commentary and generally establishing the fact that his character Boris is someone that the audience is going to hate. Allen takes that concept and attempts to spin it a bit, introducing the love interest in the much younger Melodie (in a scary and rather creepy parallel to his own relationship with his then-adopted-daughter-now-wife Soon-Yi Previn, even though Allen supposedly wrote the script some 40 years ago). In a bit of self-righteousness, Allen tries to justify the relationship as something more than meets the eye. Despite this Boris' character opens up and develops as the film progresses. Some might get "used to" his quirks, however David's portrayal as an unlikeable asshole is so strong that I just could shake it, no matter what Allen attempted in order to sway opinion. Allen has written a rather witty script for the most part, and offers up some occasionally funny scenarios with the much older Boris as his fall guy. The relationship with Melodie, although creepy, doesn't feel too forced and unfolds with a natural, if altogether neurotic pace. Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood make an unlikely screen duo, playing off each other and delivering some entertaining scenes, the first time he meets Melodie is particularly memorable as is Boris' attempts to safeguard himself by lying and seeing those lies come back to bite him in the ass was enjoyable. But I couldn't help but feel that David's performance was fairly one-note, he doesn't delve into emotionality, he doesn't really "act" per-se, he basically plays himself, and if you've seen "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (2000-Present) you'll know exactly what I'm talking about (and he manages to be much funnier in that show than here, shame really), also a few supporting characters pop up here and there to progress the plot and gives Boris something else to rant about, so they're mostly forgettable. Although the relationship between Boris and Melodie is allowed some breathing room, almost everything else in this film felt forced, from the stage-like production design of Boris' apartment to the conveniently placed characters that allow Boris to spout off again and again. The film's tone feels patronizing and if you're not a fan of Allen, like yours truly, you'll find this film difficult to get through. It was a trying experience with little reward, "Whatever Works" is not for everyone.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.78:1 this image comes delivered to Blu-ray in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and mastered in AVC MPEG-4 compression. Sony provides an adequate transfer, with decent color saturation, New York looks particularly vibrant and detailed, skin tones are natural although there are a few instances that lean towards the yellow/orange hues. Black levels are deep and shadow detail remains consistent throughout. There's some grain and noise amid the darker scenes, lending a film-like look to the transfer. There aren't any print flaws, as a recent release we're treated to a clean image, while some scenes look a bit flat the majority of the image looks solid.
Audio
A single English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is included mixed at 48kHz/24-bit. This film is largely dialogue driven, with some ambient sounds that fill in the surrounds to place viewers in New York but nothing that stands out. The Dialogue is clear and distortion free, and mostly front heavy in the mix. The environmental sounds and music make occasional use of the sound space but the overall track isn't entirely impressive or immersive. It's simply a standard track that performs adequately and that's about it. Optional subtitles are included in English and English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
Woody Allen is known for not releasing any supplements to his films, it's comforting for a reviewer who doesn't particularly like the majority of the filmmaker's output to know that there aren't tons of supplements to view... Sony has released a bare bones disc that features only the film's theatrical trailer, a single bonus trailer and BD-Live access. Below is a closer look at these scant extras. First up is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 2 minutes 17 seconds. There is a single bonus trailer for: - "An Education" which runs for 1 minute 55 seconds. The only Blu-ray exclusive extra is BD-Live access for those with profile 2.0 players only and allows access to Sony's online portal.
Overall
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