Woody Allen's London-set rumination on love and the meaning of life is a star-studded comedy of manners and morals revolving around the melodramatic fantasies of two couples. As recounted by the Shakespeare-referencing narrator, after 40 years of marriage, aging Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) divorces distraught Helena (Gemma Jones), much to the consternation of their grown daughter, Sally (Naomi Watts), and her novelist husband, Roy (Josh Brolin). Afraid that life is passing him by, Viagra-gulping Alfie takes up with Charmaine (Lucy Punch), a gold-digging call girl, while sherry-tippling Helena places her faith in charlatan soothsayer Cristal (Pauline Collins), and seeks comfort from the owner of an occult-book shop (Roger Ashton-Griffiths), who's obsessed with contacting the spirit of his recently deceased wife. Meanwhile, wistful Sally develops a secret crush on her handsome boss (Antonio Banderas), a flirtatious art gallery owner whose marriage is floundering; and Roy fixates on an exotic-looking, guitar-strumming neighbor (Freida Pinto), whom he surreptitiously watches from his window. Neither the script nor the direction ignites in Allen's latest, which—except for a few wry one-liners—is an amusing diversion, at best. Optional. (S. Granger)
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Sony, 98 min., R, DVD: $28.95, Blu-ray: $38.98, Feb. 15 Volume 26, Issue 1
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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