This crotchety comedy generates consistent laughs through its sarcastic nihilism and colourful characters
Comment
07/16/09
Whatever Works (2009)
47
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:123
Fresh:58
Rotten:65
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: Based upon a script written in the 1970s, Woody Allen's Whatever Works suffers from a lack of fresh ideas.
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: The New York-based humor of Woody Allen and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIAM’s Larry David seems like a natural match, and the pair unite for the first time in this comedy. WHATEVER WORKS follows a rich man... [More]
Starring: Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley
Director: Woody Allen
Reviews for Whatever Works
Whatever Works transcends Allen formulas thanks to David, who is taller, balder and more foul-mouthed than the usual types Allen himself has played.
04/24/09
Coming off last year's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the freshest Allen film in more than a decade, Whatever Works plays like a hoary old Broadway stage comedy yanked, reluctantly, into the present.
06/25/09
Despite the negative tenor of the dialogue, the film itself has a sweet quality.
06/18/09
Woody's latest shrewdly upends the filmmaker's own comic pessimisms
07/07/09
Consider our enthusiasm curbed.
07/03/09
If you want to see Larry David limp around and see his view of 'the glass is probably covered with diseases so who cares if it's half empty or half full,' then go along for this ride.
06/29/09
A spoonful of Melody St. Ann Celestine helps the misanthrophy go down.
07/03/09
A more mean spirited but still very funny film aimed mainly at Woody'searly period devotees that includes a spirited turn by Evan Rachel Wood.
09/08/09
[Woody] Allen's execution -- dim, repressed Red Staters get liberated in the big city -- will register best with his core audience.
06/18/09
I am a huge Woody Allen fan, but I had a hard time with Whatever Works.
06/27/09
The role of Boris was written for Zero Mostel, who just might have been able to pull it off. But with David instead of vulnerable humanity you get a lot of agitated monologues...
07/03/09
Whatever Works won’t set the world on fire but it has more than its share of riotously hysterical moments and delicious absurdities.
07/03/09
Approaches the line that's ever-present in Allen's films dividing funny misanthropy from sour misanthropy, and tramples all over it.
06/29/09
It appears 73-year-old Woody Allen finally drew the line and elected to pair 21-year-old Evan Rachel Wood with someone closer to her own age. So he sent in 62-year-old Larry David to pinch-hit.
07/02/09
An unappealing drama about an obnoxious, cynical, and bitter old man.
06/19/09
David's human sandpaper delivery gives a full, deep voice to Allen's reckless misanthropy.
07/25/09
Whatever Works would have only worked if its director had written his trademark self-caricature out of it.
06/25/09
Unlike last year’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which felt fresh and contemporary, Whatever Works seems dated. Allen has covered these themes so often that they provide few surprises.
07/03/09
Part of Boris' worldview seems to be to excuse the movie in which he stars. Try not to overthink it, Allen seems to say: just enjoy it.
06/26/09
Latest News for Whatever Works
June 18, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Year One Fails To Beget Laughs
This week at the movies, we've got Biblical bloopers (Year One, starring Jack Black and Michael Cera) and an engagement of convenience (The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and... More...
May 10, 2009:
Trailer Bulletin: Whatever Works 
Larry David steps in as Woody Allen's latest on-screen surrogate in "Whatever Works," due out June 19. Watch the trailer now! More...
May 10, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review
More...
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