Huge disappointment; one of Allen's worst for my money

Rating: 5/10 (21 July 2012)

Do you remember the last shot of Quentin Tarantino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS? That part with Brad Pitt's character sort of echoing Tarantino's very own feelings towards his film by saying something like "I think this is my masterpiece". With one of the last scenes of TO ROME WITH LOVE I felt that its director (master) Woody Allen was also talking about his own film – Allen knows his latest isn't a fine one, and is like he just don't care since he has experienced some worse criticism before. Usually, I'm a fan of the Woody Allen pictures that many people hate (HOLLYWOOD ENDING, for instance) so pretty much, out of the 30+ films directed by Allen that I have seen, I would rank this one at the bottom – with the exception of YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER I really can't think in another truly disappointing Allen.
TO ROME WITH LOVE is certainly kind of special since it features Allen's first performance in 6 years. I always liked to believe that he wasn't ever coming back to acting, and not because I thought he was done but just because of the surprising and funny ending of his character in SCOOP (2006). But he is back and his character here does go for the self-referential thing: this character is a retired music producer who is not satisfied at all with his days without any work. As I guess you already know, "Rome" presents four different stories - Allen's character is part of one that has some laughs but also ridiculous stuff (that made people at the cinema laugh a lot, actually). I would say many more material here is quite ridiculous, being Roberto Benigni the unluckiest talent of the big ensemble cast (which includes the youngsters Ellen Page and Jesse Eisenberg -doing nothing spectacular- and Alec Baldwin as a omnipresent character that doesn't make much sense).
Hell, let's write more about the story with Benigni. I think is the key one to say this isn't a success of a film. Allen had something to say here, especially via the part with the star of LA VITA È BELLA ("Rome" marks Benigni's first performance since 2005, by the way). He is not saying anything new but nevertheless is a nice statement on fame and the media. However we have not only Benigni being totally wasted but also material that doesn't quite belong here – yes, I get the point but that doesn't mean I enjoyed a series of repetitive and mostly unfunny scenes that made me think something like "what the heck is this?"
Ultimately, the film also fails when it comes to make of Rome a place to die for; I mean, you can make a place look like heaven or the complete opposite, but you better do something memorable especially if you have the name of the place in the title! In recent memory, the (bad) film EAT PRAY LOVE did a whole lot more for Italy than this one (to tell the truth, Allen's film don't do a thing for Rome) – with that film I wanted to be there, eating lots of great food! So yes, this one is pretty mediocre in every aspect (with the exception of Penelope Cruz, who does a fine don't-do-a-thing-besides-showing-your-sexiness kind of work).
*Watched it on 20 July, 2012