Alessandro Tiberi as Antonio, Roberto Della Casa as Uncle Paolo, and Penélope Cruz as Anna in To Rome with Love. (Photo by Philippe Antonello ©Gravier Productions, Inc., Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Inspired by its predecessors like Paris, Je T’Aime, Woody Allen writes, directs, and stars in his latest cinematic release, To Rome with Love. Of the 40-plus screenplays that Mr. Allen has penned, Rome falls short of his best films, like Midnight in Paris, but delivers an imaginative comedy that sometimes makes us laugh out loud.
Left to Right: Ellen Page as Monica and Jesse Eisenberg as Jack in To Rome with Love. (Photo by Philippe Antonello ©Gravier Productions, Inc., Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
As an ensemble film, To Rome With Love presents several unrelated stories that play out simultaneously, brimming with the talent of Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz, Judy Davis, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg, and Roberto Benigni. The trajectories are signature Woody, but he never runs out of novel twists.
Alec Baldwin and Jesse Eisenberg in To Rome with Love. (Photo by Philippe Antonello ©Gravier Productions, Inc., Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Allen plays a retired music director with some unusual ideas about staging operas. He and his wife (Judy Davis) travel to Rome to visit their daughter (Allison Pill) and to meet her handsome lawyer fiancé (Flavio Parenti) and his family, who run a funeral home. The rest of the stories showcase themes like young relationships, the wisdom of experience, and that crazy little thing called fame. And, of course, there’s plenty of seduction, with Penelope Cruz as a sizzling prostitute whose business is booming.
Monica Nappo as Sofia and Roberto Benigni as Leopoldo To Rome with Love. (Photo by Philippe Antonello ©Gravier Productions, Inc., Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
As one of the industry’s most seasoned filmmakers, Woody Allen has been selling his comedy craft since he was in his teens, and even in his 70s he doesn’t seem to be taking his foot off the gas. For over 40 years, he has written and directed a new movie almost every year—which means that while you’re watching his latest film, Allen’s next picture is in pre-production. This is why I’m baffled by what doesn’t work in To Rome With Love. There are awkward screen moments that make the movie feel like it’s in rehearsal mode, where the actors know their lines but aren’t owning them yet, and where the director should be yelling “cut!” In these moments, we feel the separation between the actors and the characters. And we feel stalled, rather than the smooth momentum that Woody Allen dialogue is known for. It’s puzzling that he didn’t re-shoot the scenes where the actors weren’t synching, which would have made this movie hum.
Woody Allen on the set of To Rome with Love. (Photo by Philippe Antonello ©Gravier Productions, Inc., Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
What does work here, in addition to its fine cast, is a comical romp through the tangles of life that delivers the wildly unexpected, all staged in one of the most romantic cities in the world. To Rome is a love letter, not only to Rome, but to relationships and life. Yeah, I know, Woody Allen is not known for his optimism. But here he returns to the more buoyant mood of his earlier films. To Rome With Love is his gentle side of storytelling, without the existentialism. Woody lite. B