Whatever Works (2009)

Larry David plays a Woody Allen-type character in a Woody Allen film that was meant to be made in 1970's. David's character Boris is a detestable misanthrope. His judgmental, condescending nature is so vile it begins to grow on you. I thought this was bound to be a great film. Then we are introduced to his southern girlfriend and her family and we begin to enter very stale territory. They are all stereotypes that are too blatant for even Woody Allen, a man who doesn't shy away from mocking other cultures, notably his own. The creative energy skids to a stop. Moreover, I thought that the film clearly has a cynical metropolitan bias in which the southern family is considered redeemed only when they convert to Boris's way of life. If that was meant to be endearing, I must have missed it. Little sparks of genius, as with every Woody Allen movie, but Whatever Works is undoubtably his weakest comedy.