Review: To Rome With Love

Woody Allen and Judy Davis play an American couple vacationing in Italy. He used to be a music promoter (!), and when he hears the father (Fabio Armiliato) of his soon-to-be daughter-in-law (Alison Pill) sing in the shower (don’t ask), he’s convinced the next big opera voice has been found. Meanwhile, Jesse Eisenberg is dating Greta Gerwig, but finds he is clearly more compatible with her friend Ellen Page. Alec Baldwin plays a middle-aged architect who becomes Eisenberg’s romantic adviser as he contemplates an illicit relationship with Page. In another story, Roberto Benigni plays a reticent ‘reality TV’ star, whose mundane life is tailed by paparazzo. Formerly feeling ignored and insignificant, he now finds he has no privacy whatsoever. Be careful what you wish for. The final story involves a newlywed couple (Alessandro Tiberi and Alessandra Mastronardi) find themselves separated, with Tiberi has a ‘meet cute’ with a prostitute (Penelope Cruz), whom he has to introduce to his visiting parents as his new wife, through screwball circumstances.

 

Most people hate this 2012 Woody Allen (“Annie Hall”, “Deconstructing Harry”, “Celebrity”) ode to all things Eye-talian, but for my money, it’s far less nauseatingly pretentious than his much more popular “Midnight in Paris”. Bear in mind, as always, I’m not even remotely a Woody Allen fan. This one’s an uneven collection of vignettes as Woody is clearly not in peak form here, but some of it is good fun. It should’ve cut out some of the lesser vignettes (which are easy to spot as you won’t recognise many of the actors in them), and the ending is pretty poor, but geez, it’s not that bad.

 

Although his role is ill-defined, Alec Baldwin effortlessly steals his every scene, Roberto Benigni is perfectly cast as well in an amusing dig at reality TV, though apparently I’m the only one who enjoyed this segment. I found it hilarious to hear Benigni’s wife getting the Joan Rivers treatment on the red carpet, whilst he is inundated with inane questions about his choice in underwear. It’s hardly an original concept, but it’s certainly a lot cleverer and funnier than what Woody was trying for (and failed) in “Celebrity”. Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page are also well-matched, even if I find Page rather annoying (less-so in this film, though) and find it strange that Eisenberg would rather be with a girl who looks like a ten year-old boy than the lovely (if overrated) Greta Gerwig. Best of all, Woody showcases Rome as a lovely place to look at, even if my aversion to scenic-yet-boring locations holds me back from ever wanting to visit (I don’t care for the food or music, so why bother?).

 

Penelope Cruz looks gorgeous, but I wasn’t a fan of her storyline with a newlywed, nor the story of the newlywed man’s wife, both of whom were incredibly boring. Woody’s own storyline was good fun though, even if Judy Davis finds herself incredibly wasted as Woody’s wife. Like I said, I really liked Alec Baldwin in this but his character made absolutely no sense whatsoever. At first I thought he was just a figment of Eisenberg’s imagination dispensing wise ladies’ man tips to nerdy Eisenberg. But since Page sees and interacts with him as well, that can’t be the case. Except...at times she appears unable to hear or see him. What the hell? Still, Baldwin is spot-on in the role, and I especially loved him pointing out that Page was quoting just enough literature to make herself sound smart. We all know people like that. Gerwig is appealing, but hey, so are a lot of actresses. What’s the big deal?

 

With a couple of the stories thrown out, there’d be much more room for character depth. As is, I’ve seen Woody do a whole lot worse. And hey, at least this one’s not misogynistic. That’s an improvement over some Woody films, and he gets some good lines in too (‘I was never a communist. I couldn’t share a bathroom!’). It’s not nearly as egotistical and infantile as “Midnight in Paris”. It’s not bad, but it’s not very significant, either. The jaunty music is pretty on the nose, too. We get it, you’re in Italy, dude. No need to go for cliché. At least ‘Nessun Dorma’ (if that’s the correct spelling) has a legit reason for being used in the film, but the rest is just horrible stereotyping. This ain’t a pasta sauce commercial. Sorry, but it bugged the hell out of me.

 

Rating: C+