Sunday, July 29, 2012

To Rome With Love (2012)

Rated: R - Runtime: 111 min
tesg's Rating: Three stars (out of four)

Allen's series of films where he drops relationship stories in scenic European locales continues with Rome. This time, it's a parts-bin series of relationship stories...some related, some not...that mostly dabble in unexpected celebrity.

There's lots of trademark Woody Allen absurdity like we haven't seen in years. Allen himself takes on a role for the first time in his last few projects. Alec Baldwin is a highlight as a character that essentially plays the subconscious of Jesse Eisenberg's character, even though all the characters surrounding him know that he's there and interact with him. Roberto Benigni gets an awesome role as an average guy who suddenly finds himself inexplicably famous for no reason.

Your mileage may vary based on how much you like each story. They're all ideas that, on their own, couldn't be hashed out into a feature. But I personally dug them all.