Reviews

I find all of woody allen flicks interesting. Always an interesting subject no matter how good bad ugly great the movie is. This new one is no exception.

MITM is a totally pleasant whimsical delight... the actors are charming especially Emma Stone and Eileen Atkins as Colin Firth's aunt.

The humor is very light... whimsy is a good term... is it funny? For me NO... but it's also not unfunny. It's just this one long smile.

The scenery is gorgeous.

The story is smart hidden in a cute jacket.

The age difference between the two is maybe a tad much but the rom in this romcom is not the leading factor... at least for most of it. Maybe a Colin Firth from 15 years ago would have been a better lead but unless Woody has access to that time travel device in Midnight In Paris that was not an option.

As with some other Allen films there is a turn in direction at some point. Won't give anything away. Your enjoyment of the movie might hinge on how you feel after it goes after this point.

For me it may have lingered around too long towards the end.

Firth is good and likable but I did find some of his character's decisions to be too abrupt. But maybe that's just me. And some of his duologue felt a bit rushed and acted.

I wouldn't personally rank this as one of his recent greats like Paris, Jasmine, Match Point or VCB... but it's a fun summery concoction of scenery, whimsy and costumes.

This review comes from someone who likes Famnily Guy and really enjoyed TED... but this new one... was... ouch... I went in expecting a few laughs but there were fewer than even my low expectations predicted. Other than the script everything is top notch. Actors are great. Charlize and Liam and Sarah Silverman etc are terrific. It's too bad they didn't have something better to work with.

Liam in fact seems like he's in a different movie. He's 100 percent serious. That might be Seth's point in making a guy (himself) who is caught in the middle of a serious horrible deadly world that the west really was.

It looks very good visually. Great score. But very inconsistent. Not hit and miss. More like hit and miss miss miss groan miss semi-hit miss. And the joke style kept changing. Silly to sweet to over the top and serious at times. and some of the jokes were so disgusting I don't know what they were thinking. (and i like disgusting)

Plus the anachronistic style gets tired fast.

And Seth as predicted should not have made himself the lead. He's not awful but would have benefited greatly with a pro. His persona is not fit for leading man status. And his voice and style is so in step with Brian's on family guy its a bit distracting.

Basically the tone of this film keeps changing. The joke styles keep changing. it doesn't know what it is. Is is a sweet western romcom? Is it a satire? Is it a serious comedy?

With all the success from Ted I'm guessing Seth had carte blanche with this one and probably needed someone to question him more.

Might be more fun if your stoned. Really really stoned. And/or maybe just see Blazing Saddles instead.

when the movie was over the audience sat there somewhat stunned and completely silent... was crazy... crazy is the literal word to use.

the main character is so vivid and sad and real.

the film is a roller coaster ride of drama and comedy... of awkward humor and goofy then disturbing.

the use of flashbacks are done seamlessly and works well to tell the back story of this amazing character.

there are a few things that maybe don't work here and there but 80 percent of this film is cate blanchette and she really is perfect.

at times it's woodyy allen-ish and at other times you forget and are sucked in by blanchette.

rest of cast is great... andrew dice clay is awesome in a very toned down role, louie ck is great is a small part... sally hawkins is awesome in her own way and very different from her sister jasmine... bobby carnivale chews some scenery.

if this movie sucks you in you will have a hard time forgetting it for a while... it hangs with you.

i loved this movie. at first i was a little out of it because it's unusual seeing characters you know so well in a prequel with characters you don't know. you know where mike and sully are gonna end up but the newbies you have no idea. after about 15 minutes though i was totally loving the new guys and by time the whole thing was over i really found myself loving everything about this movie.

what's also great is also this is not the same as the first one... it's not an adventure flick but instead it's (obviously) a college comedy and follows the same rules and format as a live action one... making friends, frats, parties, pranks etc... with the great pixar emotional touch to put it over the top.

stick around till the very end for a small little extra