September Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Play the opposite Mia!

Lane is a very sad, depressed young lady and Mia Farrow plays her with a gloom and doom look and voice throughout. Makes you want to slap her and tell her to get out of her smart Vermont house and get some enjoyment into her life. It is also very tedious to watch such a monotone acting performance from the film's star. The theme of the movie seems to be that some of us face up to life's difficulties and pull through, others go under. Except that in a practical sense Lane is moving on and coping with the sale of the family home and planning a new life in New York, perhaps as a photographer. If she were as depressed as portrayed I doubt she would be getting that much together. That said there are good things in this Bergmanesque Allen film. There are even some jokes if you can rise above the all pervasive mood of pessimism to spot them. Elaine Strich delivers a fine performance as Lane's mother and steals the film from the acting point of view. There is a nice little jazzy soundscape and the (all interior) design is pleasing autumnal gold. Not so sure about the frumpy costumes Mia and her female co-star are forced to wear. Yeah, these two women really do have to get a life. But would you chose Sam Waterston as your lover on his showing here? Check it out and see, ladies.

...........arghhhhh

Enough with the laura ashley sexless corduroy wearing middle class vermont set .... I wish Allen had mixed it up a bit with characters of different stature and 'class' ..whilst I can appreciate his work ... his regulars , Farrow especially are too frigid and angst ridden ...This is good movie making sure but if it were a colour it would be beige ...

Warning this isn't the Woody Allen to rent if you want a laugh. But for those who like his more serious efforts it's a classic. Interiors, Another Woman, Alice and this one are the other side of Allen's work. It is a fine ensemble piece of film art.

The Ingmar Bergman film Woody Allen never made

This is definately one of the early intentionally unfunny ones. I am a lifelong Woody Allen fan, preferring the comedies and specifically the ones in which he appears. I have dipped my toe in his more serious output before and have been frequently disappointed. This offering was no exception. Middle class people with angst ridden insecurities and assorted neuroses. Mia Farrow's character gets my vote as 'most deserving of a slap' with her generally whining performance. I believe the film was shot twice and this is the reshot version. Perhaps the original had more insight.

Now, I like Woody Allen, but ...

Sorry, but I couldn't get through this one. It's very curious how the man who can create such poignant comedy out of simple situations, deliver such insight and relaxed, natural characterisation can suddenly produce what seems like something written by an amateur. I kept expecting some massive irony to kick in, 'Don't worry folks, this is deliberately bad, because ...' But it never came. Just more of the same. Hammy set-ups, clunky dialogue, characters just telling you how they feel then waiting while the other character said how they feel, on and on. I didn't care. I thought they should all stop and look to camera and think, boy if we're unhappy, what about the audience? In this household, half the audience fell asleep and the other (me) kept looking at my watch.

No Jokes, No Smiles, not even a smirk

I have seen other Woody Allen films which are said to come from his more 'serious' cannon, like Another Woman, and enjoyed them.

So I read the reviews on this and thought, what the hell, it can't be that bad.

I was wroing. I think that with this film he decided that he wouldn't right a single funny or even intelligently witty line, instead he would play the biggest joke of all on his loyal audience by making them sit through this and then he would laugh all to himself when the money rolled in.

Except it is so bad I can't believe it made a profit. There is no story to speak of, just Mia Farrow wandering through scenes rubbing her brow and complaining how crap her life is.

The only good things about it are Elaine Stritch and Jack Warden whose characters are the only ones you wouldn't wish a horrible death on!!

Only view if you have seen ALL of Allen's other films and you just want to complete the set. If you view before you may never want to see anything he touched again!!

September

Much too slow and too much dialogue without meaning. Not for me

Softly, softly

This is a wonderfully golden film. Set during the closing stages of summer, a group of privileged and slightly disturbed characters struggle with their pasts and fear for their futures. I was definitely struck by the colour and pace of the film. It seemed as if it was designed to haunt. A beautiful piece of work.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Gloom gloom gloom

Nothing more off-putting than the thought of Allen in Serious Mode doing what would essentially be his version of a stark play, but it's actually not quite as bleak as you'd imagine. At an elegant house in the country, Mia loves Sam but he loves her best friend Dianne while Denholm looks on lovingly at Mia from the sidelines. In the meantime, Elaine blazes in (in a refreshing over the top role which galvanizes the film) with lover Jack in tow. Much navel-gazing ensues, most of it indulgent, some of it vaguely interesting, and certainly it's well-acted by all concerned.

Dull and disappointing...

...that's true of the first half hour and the bits I skipped (far from merrily) forward to... If there are fun bits in between or later I missed them.

And I do miss the old Woody Allen - he used to be such fun.

Here he doesn't even bother trying to lure you in - it begins as it seems to go on.