Woody is back!

Rating: 9/10 (8 July 2012)

To Rome with Love (2012) was written and directed by Woody Allen. In this movie Allen does for Rome what he has already done for New York and Paris--transformed the city into a magical kingdom where anything is possible.
The film doesn't have one plot, it has four. It doesn't have one star, it has about a dozen.
The four plots involve a young small-town Italian couple who arrive in Rome right after their marriage; a retired opera director (Allen) and his wife who come to Rome to join their daughter, who has fallen in love with a young Italian lawyer; a famous architect (Alec Baldwin) who interposes himself into the life of a young U.S. architecture student living in Rome; and an ordinary citizen (Roberto Benigni) who overnight inexplicably finds himself a major celebrity.
Things I learned about Woody Allen from this film: he hasn't lost his touch as a director; he hasn't lost his touch as an actor, as long as he can play Woody Allen; he hasn't lost the ability to write some of the funniest lines you'll ever hear in a movie.
Other things I learned: filling a movie with beautiful women--Ellen Page, Alessandra Mastronardi, Penélope Cruz--is generally a very good idea; Penélope Cruz was born to play an extremely sought-after high-class prostitute.
My wife and I enjoyed this film, and it was clear that other people in the theater liked it as well. Question: why is it rated 6.3 by the IMDb voters? Here's another case--see my review of "First Position"--where I wonder if the voters who gave it a 6 saw the same movie that I saw.
"To Rome with Love" is a funny, intelligent film with great acting and great views of Rome. See it and decide for yourself whether it deserves a 6.3 or a 9.