Whatever Works (2009)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer (WGA):

Woody Allen (written by)

Release Date:

1 July 2009 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Attempting to impress his ideologies on religion, relationships, and the randomness (and worthlessness) of existence...

Plot Keywords:

Life | Naive | Runaway | Religion | Bar

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Larry David	...	Boris Yellnikoff
Adam Brooks	...	Boris' Friend #1
Lyle Kanouse	...	Boris' Friend #2
Michael McKean	...	Joe - Boris' Friend #3
Clifford Lee Dickson	...	Boy on Street
Yolonda Ross	...	Boy's Mother
Carolyn McCormick	...	Jessica
Samantha Bee	...	Chess Mother
Conleth Hill	...	Leo Brockman
Marcia DeBonis	...	Lady at Chinese Restaurant
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Melodie St. Ann Celestine
John Gallagher Jr.	...	Perry
Willa Cuthrell-Tuttleman	...	Chess Girl
Nicole Patrick	...	Perry's Friend
Patricia Clarkson	...	Marietta
Henry Cavill	...	Randy James
Olek Krupa	...	Morgenstern
Ed Begley Jr.	...	John
Christopher Evan Welch	...	Howard
Jessica Hecht	...	Helena
Lindsay Michelle Nader	...	Television Voice #1 (voice)
Armand Schultz	...	Television Voice #2 (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve Antonucci	...	Flea Market Shopper (uncredited)
Marc Alan Austen	...	Art gallery patron (uncredited)
Julie Basem	...	Cafe Waitress (uncredited)
Kenneth Edelson	...	Gallery Guest (uncredited)
Chris Nuñez	...	Concert Goer (uncredited)
Quincy Rose	...	Guy on Bench (uncredited)
Robin Singer	...	Indie Rocker (uncredited)

Directed by
Woody Allen

Writing credits (WGA)
Woody Allen		(written by)

Produced by
Letty Aronson	....	producer
Brahim Chioua	....	executive producer
Charles H. Joffe	....	co-executive producer
Vincent Maraval	....	executive producer
Helen Robin	....	co-producer
Jack Rollins	....	co-executive producer
Stephen Tenenbaum	....	producer

Cinematography by
Harris Savides

Film Editing by
Alisa Lepselter

Casting by
Ali Farrell
Laura Rosenthal
Juliet Taylor

Production Design by
Santo Loquasto

Set Decoration by
Ellen Christiansen

Costume Design by
Suzy Benzinger

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dan Majkut	....	dga trainee
Murphy Occhino	....	second assistant director
Richard Patrick	....	first assistant director

Art Department
James Granger	....	art department assistant
Glenn Lloyd	....	art department coordinator
Anne Miller	....	property master
Mark Pollard	....	additional graphic artist
Manny Sanchez	....	carpenter
Andrew Spagnoli	....	set dresser
Rodney Sterbenz	....	set dresser
Richard Tenewitz	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Gary Alper	....	sound mixer
Lee Dichter	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jay Peck	....	foley artist
Jason Stasium	....	sound utility
David Wahnon	....	sound editor

Visual Effects by
Dana Bloder	....	digital opticals producer
Charles Lapage	....	digital compositor
David Piombino	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Peter Bucossi	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Christian Baldi	....	lighting technician
Matt Balzarini	....	second assistant camera
Adriana Brunetto-Lipman	....	camera loader
Marcel Ciurea	....	grip
Rashad Clinton	....	rigging grip
Doug Dalisera	....	rigging gaffer
Robert K. Feldmann	....	grip
James W. Finnerty	....	key grip
Timothy Healy	....	electrician
Patrick Johnson	....	rigging grip
Jessica Miglio	....	still photographer
Tim Norman	....	first assistant camera
Kyle Rudolph	....	Steadicam operator: "a" camera

Casting Department
David H. Kramer	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Patrick Wiley	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Kate Rose Itzkowitz	....	assistant editor
Morgan Neville	....	first assistant editor
Tim Stipan	....	digital opticals colorist

Other crew
Deborah Alexander	....	assistant to producer
Abby Bailey	....	assistant accountant
Theo Brooks	....	production assistant
Angela Cutrone	....	additional production assistant
Laura Fairchild	....	assistant: Larry David
Bill Garvey	....	location scout
Tom Glick	....	production assistant
Michael J. Harker	....	completion bond representative
Sophie Holland	....	production assistant
Elizabeth Klenk	....	location scout
Scott Kordish	....	production coordinator
James Lesage	....	key production assistant
Phillip Leung	....	production assistant
Jessica Lichtner	....	script supervisor
Pietro Lorino Jr.	....	production accountant
Liz Magee	....	production assistant
Nicholas McManus	....	production assistant
Christie Mullen	....	location manager
Lynn H. Powers	....	assistant location manager
Colby Shrefler	....	location scout
Joshua Shull	....	location assistant
Joshua Shull	....	location scout
Nate Shull	....	location assistant
Susan Silas	....	location scout
Lora Sorrentino	....	staff production assistant
John Spady	....	location scout
Melissa Tomjanovich	....	assistant: Woody Allen
Amy R. Trachtman	....	assistant production coordinator
Kelly Trivigno	....	payroll accountant
Joseph Turner	....	set production assistant
Liam Doyle	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Gravier Productions
• Perdido Productions
• Wild Bunch

Distributors

• Paradiso Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• California Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• FS Film Oy (2009) (Finland) (all media)
• Mars Distribution (2009) (France) (all media)
• Medusa Distribuzione (2009) (Italy) (all media)
• Paradise/MGN (2009) (Russia) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2009) (Canada) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2009) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• David Haddad  transportation equipment
• Haddad's  transportation equipment
• Razor & Tie Direct  soundtrack (as Razor & Tie)

Also Known As:

Untitled Woody Allen Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual situations including dialogue, brief nude images and thematic material.

Runtime:

USA:92 min (Tribeca Film Festival)

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Mono)

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44832) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Gravier Productions

Trivia:

Evan Rachel Wood mentions Plaquemine County to Larry David. Not only is there no Plaquemine County in Louisiana, but it is also the only state to not have any counties, only parishes.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Melody says she is from Mississippi and that her parents moved there from Louisiana. She also refers to living in Plaquemines County. There is no Plaquemines County is Mississippi. In Louisiana, where there are parishes instead of counties, there is a Plaquemines Parish.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: (#1.12)" (2009)

It works for me.

"Sometimes a cliché is finally the best way to make one's point." Boris (Larry David)

Woody Allen's witty movies may seem clichéd (love does indeed conquer all in most of his romcoms), but they do make a humanistic point couched in Allen's pessimism and nerdiness. With Larry David playing another Allen alter ego, Boris, a self-proclaimed genius, this misanthrope in Whatever Works is the best characterization of Allen in his recent movies. The movie works for me as the smartest, most enjoyable of this summer with a message countering Allen and his alter ego's world-weariness.

It doesn't take long to look at David's work co-creating Seinfeld and starring in his own Curb Your Enthusiasm to see that this world-weary worry wart is a good choice to play an Allen-like New York Jewish intellectual. Unfortunately his lack of real acting talent is a hindrance, especially when he slips into shouting many of his lines. Yet when David plays himself more than the stuttering Allen, he becomes relaxed and believable. When David speaks to the audience several times, the sincerity is powerful.

Allen wanted Zero Mostel to play this part; his death in 1977 put the script in mothballs for decades. As an accomplished Broadway and film actor, Mostel underscores David's limited acting range.

The conceit of Whatever Works is that older Boris in his 60's hooks up with twenty-year-old Southern Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) despite his genius mind rejecting the whole affair as trite but his heart going with "whatever works." Throughout, Allen juxtaposes the Southern innocence with Northern experience creating a situation where NYC actually transforms the Southerners into urban sybarites, no better exemplified than the transformation of Melodie's mom (Patricia Clarkson) from bible thumper to artist humper with avant garde photos and multiple lovers. Even her ex-husband, John (Ed Begley, Jr.), has a NYC epiphany of the sexual kind.

Although Allen has his characters looking for love with results that will remind you of his Everyone Says I Love You, the sweetness is replaced with a philosophy that encourages searching out whatever works because of the transitory nature of love and life.

The mixture of love and cynicism allows deep appreciation of irony and the transformative nature of experience.