To Rome With Love [HD]

singing opera in the shower on stage is the scene stealer
There are moments of inspired lunacy which no one has ever done better than Woody Allen. In this film he seems to reprise Broadway Danny Rose by being a retired music business entrepreneur. While meeting his soon to be in laws in Rome, he discovers that the groom's father sings Paglliaci fantastically but he can only sing in the shower. So..... he puts him on stage in the shower in an opera production! This is as inspired an idea as his blind movie director in Hollywood Endings.

The rest of movie is uneven with some parts being much stronger than others.

While normally I might not like the Jesse Eisenberg as Woody stand-in with yet another super neurotic relationship with the non Jewish girlfriend of his dreams, this scenario is entirely saved by Alec Baldwin's being on the scene to advise him on all aspects of this unfolding relationship. Baldwin is wonderful. Eisenberg as Woody, well he follows in a long line of Woody stand ins and he is fine at it...

3 1/2 stars for another Woody Allen in Europe flick
Woody Allen presents his annual travelogue of Europe. This year we get Italy, specifically Rome and its environs. Allen also resurfaces before the camera as a musical impresario who specializes in offbeat opera productions. He is the father of Hayley (Alison Pill, "Goon") who meets hunky Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti) while vacationing. Jerry (Allen) hears Michelangelo's father, Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliata), singing in the shower and convinces him to star in an opera, but not in a conventional way.

This is but one of 4 separate and unconnected stories in the film. In another fantasy-like episode, Alec Baldwin seemingly relives a year he spent in Rome as a young man. He squires a man (Jesse Eisenberg) who he meets while trying to find his old apartment. Jack (Eisenberg) is living with Sally (Greta Gerwig) who is a student. A semi-famous movie actress (Ellen Page) is a friend of Sally's and comes for a visit. Against John's (Baldwin) warnings, Jack begins to spend time...

A so-so Woody Allen effort
Having been to Rome recently, and having always been a fan of Woody Allen, I approached TO ROME WITH LOVE with excitement. I hope Woody was going to continue his winning ways, because he's certainly shown recently that he is quite capable of producing some very good films (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA, MATCH POINT). But, he's also cranked out some pretty lazy stuff too (SCOOP, WHATEVER WORKS).

TO ROME WITH LOVE teeters into the latter category, I'm afraid. It has some amusing moments, and some great shots of Rome...but it has several performances that are downright terrible, thanks primarily to the script.

The film is really 4 films in one. The stories don't intertwine (in fact, they cover different lengths of time, even though scenes are interspersed), and they each have different themes or comedic styles. I'm all for a hodge-podge, but this one doesn't work.

Story one features Woody Allen, Judy Davis (a favorite) and Alison Pil. Allen...

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