Miami Rhapsody Details

You could be forgiven here for thinking that you are watching a Woody Allen comedy. The setting may be Miami, not Manhattan, but there is the central character (Sarah Jessica Parker) bemoaning her lot, a dysfunctional family and Mia Farrow in a co-starring role as Parker's mother. Writer/director David Frankel is clearly an Allen aficionado — he's even managed to get a sprinkling of Gershwin and Cole Porter tunes on to the soundtrack — but as the action develops, it's clear that he's more of a Woody wannabe than a genuine pretender to the throne. The unravelling strands of romance are neatly established as Parker, newly engaged to Gil Bellows, discovers that just about everyone she knows is cheating on their partners. If on closer inspection, Miami Rhapsody lacks the deft touches that make Allen's work so uniquely enjoyable, it has to be admitted it's still a clever and satisfying counterfeit.

Deft and observant comedy of relationships, smartly done and neatly worked out; the style is close to Woody Allen's, but lusher.