After last year's rather bizarre
Curse of the Jade Scorpion, it's nice
to see American comedy pioneer Woody Allen return to present-day New York and
make great fun of the film business in which he's always been such a colorful
non-conformist.
Hollywood Ending is loaded with industry "in-jokes". Everything
from the obsession with audience demographics to overdone Tinsel-town emphasis
on youth is addressed. But Allen's usual neurotic character still has universal
appeal. As Val, a blind director, his physical comedy is almost as humorous
as his usually snappy dialogue. Again, Allen has chosen an interesting cast
and gets the best from all of his actors. Tea Leoni looks great, has fine comic
timing and works well as a pressured film exec caught in the middle.
She's director Val's ex-wife now engaged to the studio head who is helming
Val's picture, a role played with slick ease by Treat Williams. Even though
her character is such a time-worn cliché, TV's Debra Messing is the epitome
of the good-hearted, bimbo, wannabe actress and the ever-tan George Hamilton
is a crack-up as an unidentified studio "yes man". Barney Cheng is
especially dry and funny as a translator on set for Val's Chinese cameraman.
There are the usual flaws we find in almost any Allen film. Several scenes
are terribly self-indulgent and in need of a good editor and we wonder when
Allen will realize that he's a bit too long in the tooth to expect his audiences
to believe that his character is always attractive to much younger women. A
scene in which hot young body Tiffani Thiessen, as an actress who always sleeps
with her directors, comes on to blind Val only works because we all know there
are actresses who will sleep with any director, no matter how old or nerdy.
The reason for Val's psychological blindness has to do with his estranged,
punk son and this whole story turn seems to come out of the blue but produces
one of the funniest lines in the film. Hollywood Ending looks great.
Since the film focuses upon wealthy film industry moguls, the sets are richer
and more opulent and upscale than usual. Allen has constructed a true Hollywood
ending for his film that will either insult theFrench or send them into fits
of laughter. Despite the film's flaws, I'm betting on the laughter.
Lynn Barker
Filmfestivals.com Hollywood film reviewer
