One of the best films of the year!

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2006)

Having just come out of the movie theater I am ready to declare that this is one of the best films of the year. Shot in London, the atmosphere feels very different than that set up in the rest of his films - even Melinda and Melinda, a very recent film and a personal favourite of mine - feels to have belonged to a different director. This was slightly off-putting for me in the beginning but as the film progressed I realised that Woody Allen has reached the point where he can produce any kind of masterpiece even if that means unbalancing the notion of what has been perceived and eagerly acclaimed as his "style". The dialogue is excellent for once more, the plot ingeniously conceived and developed. The theme of crime and punishment along with that of luck and its relation to life are both persistent throughout the film. A lot of wisdom and a lot of opera that helps build the tension. A Woody Allen at his best!