Woody Allen for the masses - and it works!

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2012)

Excellent movie... While it follows the same self-portrait that Allen did in other movies (with Owen Wilson surprisingly playing Allen well), it brings a lighter atmosphere, laughs, entertainment, romance that will please the audiences around the world, having as a background the most loved city and several of the appreciated and controversial artists who lived there.
Rachel McAdams does a good job as the empty-headed fiancée, and Owen shows what each of us went through at some point in our lives: the feeling that we could be happier somewhere else or with someone else. He falls in love with the city, the artists and finally with a woman who intrigues and stimulates him in a way he can't find at present times.
Great cameos by excellent actors (Adrien Brody is great). If Allen wanted to do a movie that was faithful to his roots, and bring fun to the audience while making his point in an artsy way, he certainly hit jackpot! I still prefer some other movies of his but this one does bring more entertainment!
The message I got at the end is that no place is better than where we are, as long as our demons are well resolved and we can find there the things and people we love.