Director: Woody Allen, 2012 (R)
Woody Allen’s latest comedy is a mish-mash of four stories
that have nothing really to do with one another but are woven together as
though they are interconnected. Set in the Eternal City, Allen fails to do for
Rome what he did for Paris in has last film (Midnight in Paris). Sadly, his
comedy here is a little lackluster, with charm scattered sparingly among the
stories. And Woody’s characteristic atheism comes across strongly (“I can’t
unclench when there’s turbulence. You know, I am an atheist.”) along with his
relativistic morality, especially his view on fidelity (actually encouraging infidelity
as a way to learn more about sexuality).
One story focuses on Hayley (Alison Pill), an American
tourist in Rome, who meets and falls in love with Michelangelo (Flavio
Parenti). Her parents Jerry (Woody Allen, Manhattan Murder Mystery) and Phyllis (Judy Davis) fly to Rome
to meet him and his parents. When there, Jerry, a retired music producer,
realizes that Michelangelo’s father, a mortician, has the operatic voice of an
angel. The catch is, he can only sing in a shower. And Jerry sets out to give
him his moment in the spotlight.
Another story focuses on a middle-aged architect, John (Alec
Baldwin), revisiting his old stomping grounds. When he comes across a current
architectural student Jack (Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network), they go back to Jack’s apartment where girlfriend
Sally (Greta Gerwig) informs them that her neurotic and sexually aggressive
actress friend Monica (Ellen Page, Inception)
is coming to stay. With the freedom and charm of magical realism, Allen makes
John become Jack’s conscience. He is constantly popping up as Monica begins to
seduce Jack. As she preys on Jack’s infatuation, John shows up whispering words
of wisdom unseen by all but Jack.
The third tale features a pair of young Italian newlyweds
who have travelled to Rome to meet relatives for a job. When Milly goes out to
find a salon and subsequently gets lost, Antonio is visited by a hooker Anna
(Penelope Cruz, Broken Embraces), who mistakes his room but has been paid to please the person
in the room. Of course, his relatives mistake her for his new wife, and an extended
comedy of mistaken identities ensues. Meanwhile, Milly stumbles around until
she meets her favorite actor, who proceeds to try to bed her. All this in a
single day, although the timeframe seems magically compressed.
The final story is about an ordinary man, a clerk Leopoldo
(Roberti Benigni, Life is Beautiful),
who overnight becomes a celebrity for no reason. Suddenly the paparazzi are
waiting at his door to document every moment of his life. With this comes the
“perks of celebrity”, women clamoring to sleep with him, even while his wife
quietly accepts such behavior. And then as quickly, his celebrity status is
gone.
Allen fills this film with stars, each bringing solid
performances to their characters. But they are given less to work with due to the
very nature of the movie. The four stories force them to have only a quarter of
a film, thereby not giving enough time to really develop characters. Hence the
audience is left not really caring too much for any one of them.
More than this, there is little connection between the
stories except the location and the apparent idea of love in this romantic
capital.
However, a theme does emerge that seems to tie these
together: the transitoriness of fame, and the vapidness of infatuation or of
casual sex.
If Leopoldo demonstrates the classic transitoriness of
“reality celebrity”, Jack gives us a picture of vapid infatuation. He comes
under Monica’s spell, and is ready to break up with Sally. But Monica is a
man-eater who can move on in a moment. Those infatuated fall victim to the
seducer, to whom the sex is nothing more than pleasure in the moment. He is not
so much in love with her as in lust with her. And lust is gone like the morning
mist as the sun comes up.
Jerry’s story seems to focus on his desire to get back into
the spotlight by putting the singing undertaker on stage. But his slant won’t
last. Like Leopoldo, he is destined for a short-lived applause as showerheads
and operas won’t form a lasting companionship.
Rather than seeking out fame and status, the New Testament
urges that “we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
This is good, and pleases God our Savior” (1 Tim. 2:2-3). Fame is rightly
reserved for God (Jos. 9:9), whose status is as an eternal celebrity to be
worshipped not lusted after.
Further, the Bible has much to say about sex, which after
all is a precious gift of God to humanity for pleasure and procreation. But as
the writer to the Hebrews says, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the
marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually
immoral” (Heb. 13:4). Sex is designed for enjoyment by a man and wife joined in
marriage. Outside of this union, sex, though pleasurable, can wreak havoc on
relationships as well as psyches. As Solomon says of a neighbor’s wife (or by
inference, a prostitute or any other woman): “Do not lust in your heart after
her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes” (Prov. 6:25).
When we seek our 15 minutes of fame, or our moments of lust,
leading to casual sex, we displace God, we demean ourselves, and we damage our
relationships. In contrast to Allen’s message in this film, the Bible warns us
to avoid this. Enjoy the film but ignore the message!
Copyright ©2013, Martin Baggs
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