While it is getting harder and harder to indulge an aging Woody Allen's enduring fantasy of having beautiful young women falling in love with him in his movies, the man's comedy instincts are as sharp as ever in this sophisticated screwball showbiz send-up. Allen stars as washed-up movie director Val Waxman, whose hypochondria reaches new extremes when he's rescued from deodorant commercial hell by his producer ex-wife (Téa Leoni) and given one last shot at helming a $60 million blockbuster. Panicked at the prospect of making or breaking his career--not to mention working for his ex and the Hollywood greaseball she left him for--Val goes psychosomatically blind. But he decides to make the picture anyway, hoping his cast and crew see his apparent ineptitude as visionary eccentricity. Comedic disaster ensues, but Val's movie is just a framework around which Allen builds a witty quip and character-driven industry parody. The great supporting cast includes Treat Williams, George Hamilton, Tiffani Thiessen and Isaac Mizrahi. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)
Hollywood Ending
Universal, 113 min., PG-13, VHS: $106.98, DVD: $32.99, Sept. 17 Volume 17, Issue 5
Hollywood Ending
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