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To Rome with Love2012 | 102 min | R | 1.85:1
Because of the speedy nature of Woody Allen’s work ethic, his latest, “To Rome with Love,” is not a direct response to his last picture, the unexpected blockbuster “Midnight in Paris.” Following Allen’s filmography is a bit like riding a roller coaster, with “Paris” the impossibly perfect peak and “Rome” the unsettling drop, reinforcing the filmmaker’s erratic output, though even his misses carry a plethora of interesting elements. Continuing his tour of Europe, Allen attempts to embrace the possibility of Rome, with all of its romance, history, and temptation. The mix of whimsy and commentary doesn’t settle ideally for the master, who scrambles to pull together a comedy out of unfunny business. 
Taking a summer vacation in Rome, American tourist Hayley (Alison Pill) sparks up immediate chemistry with local Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), with the smitten woman’s parents, Jerry (Woody Allen) and Phyllis (Judy Davis), flying into town to meet their future son-in-law’s family, including Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliato), an undertaker who displays an astonishing voice for opera, but only while showering. John (Alec Baldwin) has returned to Rome after spending time there 30 years ago, soon imagining his past mistakes in the form of Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), who’s lost in lust when his girlfriend’s best pal, Monica (Ellen Page), visits the couple, thrilling the impressionable young man with faux intellectualism and sexual forwardness. Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni) is an average working man suddenly thrust into the national spotlight, with the mundane details of his life celebrated by the press, tempting the bewildered man with unimaginable fame. And newlyweds Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) are preparing to meet family, only to be separated in a strange land. While Milly finds herself seduced by an Italian film star, Antonio must deal with Anna (Penelope Cruz), a prostitute mistakenly sent to the frazzled man. While “Paris” dealt exclusively with magic, “Rome” elects a slightly more fantastical route, lacing together four vignettes that encounter strange occurrences and extraordinary opportunities, reaching across a community of baffled and resistant personalities learning to accept their new reality. It’s Allen’s attempt at a cockeyed wish-fulfillment picture, though one with a wandering attention span, leisurely working through the tales without a final destination. However, it’s the trip that intrigues the filmmaker for this outing, using the juices of Rome to intoxicate his characters and lubricate their bad decisions, harvesting the discomfort and the surprise. 
The concept of the movie holds tremendous promise, extending the fantasy of “Paris” into a new realm of possibility, with mischief and seduction a top priority for Allen, who satirizes the experience of celebrity, toys with the importance of fidelity, and tinkers with the futility of regret, fueling “Rome” with a level of neuroses and playfulness that’s expected of the helmer. The longevity of such an approach seems to have eluded Allen for this production, with the vignettes eventually running out of ideas halfway through, losing traction and a sense of purpose the longer “Rome” plays out. Even for short stories, the energy is lacking here, along with a decent string of punchlines, with Allen himself doing all the heavy lifting in the comedy department, reacting to the Italian locals in a befuddled manner we’ve come to expect from the icon, nicely aided by Davis’s iron responses. In fact, Allen’s subplot is the only truly exciting one of the group, detailing the retired New York music professional’s attempt to convince Giancarlo to take on the complexity of opera as a pro, even building the man a portable shower to use on stage to extract the best possible performance. It’s silly business, and welcome in a stiff picture like “Rome.” Despite some sexually charged incidents and Benigni bopping around in his inimitable fashion, the material doesn’t find a comedic pace worth savoring, chasing fruitless tangents with visible fatigue. Of course, Allen does cast the tomboyish Ellen Page as a vibrating object of lust, so perhaps there’s more comedy in the grooves of the feature than I’m giving it credit for. 
Allen’s made this type of picture before, leaving the general ineffectiveness of “To Rome with Love” more of a modest failure than a disaster. It’s gorgeous to watch (Darius Khondji’s cinematography is exceptional, truly feeling out a contemplative mood) and offers the occasional chuckle. However, “To Rome with Love” is a major comedown after the bliss of “Midnight in Paris,” but that’s the miracle of this filmmaker. Woody Allen will make the occasional stinker, but he’s always a year away from his next masterpiece. Starring: Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Penélope Cruz, Roberto Benigni, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg Director: Woody Allen » See full cast & crew |
 
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