More a collection of skits than a plot-driven film, “To Rome with Love” (2012) will test how much a fan loves Woody Allen at his most basic level. It reminds me of his comedy-above-all-else 1970s works, albeit with much better cinematography as Darius Khondji delivers images of the Italian capital to salivate over.
Silly skits
I don’t think “To Rome with Love” is good by Allen’s standards, but I laughed a lot. His skits hit my sweet spot. For instance:
- A singer (actual opera star Fabio Armiliato) is only good in the shower, so producer Jerry (Allen) devises shows where he sings in a shower on stage.
- A common man (a funny-faced Roberto Benigni) inexplicably becomes mobbed by celebrity media – Allen’s more blunt way of making “Stardust Memories’ ” statement about fame’s perils.
- A young man (Jesse Eisenberg) is warned by his girlfriend (Greta Gerwig) that he’ll fall in love with her visiting friend (Ellen Page). He protests, and of course proceeds to fall in love with the friend.
“To Rome with Love” (2012)
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Roberto Benigni, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jesse Eisenberg
“Rome” isn’t surprising, but it’s funny to me anyway. It’s objectively overlong, yet pretty easy to watch – although I admit I did so in three chunks.
Not trying to make sense
This movie is easy on the eyes in more ways than one. When Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi, one of a bevy of beautiful actresses) gets lost, she spins around and the camera goes with her – an unapologetic excuse to soak up the city’s beauty.
A lot of “Rome” doesn’t make logical sense. An architect played by Alec Baldwin hangs around Eisenberg, wryly commenting on his situation.
The lost Milly suddenly can speak flawless “Italian” (the captions say “speaking Italian,” so I’ll shrug and go with that) once she meets a sexy film star who takes her to lunch. Milly’s husband (Alessandro Tiberi), meanwhile, is mistaken for the client of a first-class hooker (Penelope Cruz).
The film ends with a man standing on a balcony saying something about how you can encounter all kinds of stories in Rome. It’s Allen’s laziest piece of overall plotting in a long time, possibly ever.
End of the vacation
Yet on a scene-by-scene basis, “Rome” is so light on its feet that it’s hard to hate it. It’s like we’ve been invited to spend a day vacationing with Woody and his friends in Rome, with Allen making up yarns as we see the sights.
“Rome” is the Italian entry in his European travelogue from 2005-12 that also includes visits (for both the story and filming) to England (2005’s “Match Point”), Spain (2008’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) and France (2011’s “Midnight in Paris”).
This is clearly weaker than the three aforementioned films. But as vacations wind down, you can get a little punchy. “To Rome with Love” is likable and funny enough that I really want to forgive it for not actually being good.