Four stories: all set in Rome and all loosely about celebrity—that, along with a kitschy aesthetic, is all that unites Woody Allen’s latest, To Rome With Love. While funny, some jokes run too long—for example, Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni), an ordinary man, wakes up one day, inexplicably famous (a cute shtick, overworked). The strongest story is the young American love triangle—Sally (Greta Gerwig), Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) and Monica (Ellen Page), along with John (Alec Baldwin), a successful architect who gives Jack running commentary on how not to be seduced by Monica. The story about a New Yorker (Alison Pill), her parents (Allen and Judy Davis) and her Italian fiance’s family allows for some classic Allen neurosis and dialogue. The tale of naive newlyweds is, perhaps, the least interesting. Allen could’ve taken more care to ensure the stories were more equal, but this movie manages to summon up enough humour to satiate an Allen-addict or anyone looking for light-hearted summer viewing.
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2012.