Whatever Works

Whatever Works is the story of a miserable man, who hates his life, and thinks everyone around him is stupid. He encounters a young girl in the street who is so naïve that he fears for her life, so he takes her in. This girl is so sunny and full of southern charm that she seems immune to all his misanthropic ranting. But even with a beautiful girl living under his roof, he still can’t seem to stop from complaining. I feel stupid for enduring this film.

Evan Rachel Wood plays the cheerful Melodie. One day while Larry David’s character is complaining about the wretchedness of today’s society, she responds by saying, “I guess in our family we were taught to look on the positive side of things.” And that is my point. Larry David spends so much of the film insulting people and making bleak observations that he drains all the joy out of you. Even if some of the lines are funny, there is only so much gloom and doom a person can take. In one point of the film, Larry David’s character became so abusive and caustic that his friends cut their dinner short and leave him at the table. He genuinely acted surprised when they walked away. For a genius he’s pretty dumb. I should have done the same thing.

Woody Allen is a great writer. I grew up on his films and some of them are classic, but lately I’ve found them entirely less satisfying. Since I don’t find verbal abuse entertaining there was little here for me to enjoy, so I left the film feeling disappointed. In conclusion, Whatever Works didn’t work for me so I recommend that you go out and rent one of his earlier films. Life is too short to be miserable.

Rating: Rent It A feel bad movie