Woody Allen At its best

Rating: 8/10 (8 February 2014)

When I read all the negatives reviews here I just get mad! Let's put things right first: I'm not an unconditional admirer of Woody Allen. I find him in many of his so called astounding movies, boring because of his uninterrupted dialogs and his permanent excitement and so on and so forth. But some of his films have captivated me, like Midnight in Paris, Whatever works, Hollywood ending,Small Time Crooks.. What I will not deny is that Allen is an incredible observer of human nature and especially of the negative sides of the human being.
To Rome with love is typically the film which presents this aspect of Allen's genius. It is a ferocious portrayal of the stupidity of the common man and woman when confronted to medias. Of course the result of these critics is that people will say as above "Allen's Most Disappointing Film from Europe", or"a wasted opportunity" or "Unbelievably bad....The characters are neither sympathetic, likable, interesting, nor memorable. The plots are like fantasy daydreams but still manage to be incredibly tiresome."
When I check the origin of the review, most of the time I find that the reviewer is either from the US or a continent outside of Europe. Did these reviewers ever set foot in Europe? If they did for how long ? Do they speak the languages of the countries they visited?.. The answer to these questions individually are most probably: NO!
I would not be surprised too, that some of them are in a job more or less related to the media or show business. But this is not important because even if you're not related to those type of jobs, Allen in his film points his finger to all of you who watch stupid reality shows on TV, spend hours reading the stupidities of tabloids; if this is not the case maybe you're among those who think you'll solve all your personal problems with a shrink or to be sure no one can blame you for being uncultured, will have the behavior of Monica...
Hey! hey! You don't like me stating that! That's what Allen wants to point out in the movie, our foolish behaviors, our snobism; he gives us a hilarious portrait of the idiots who today massacre the operatic repertoire, with their so called "avant garde" staging, what we call in French "relecture of libretto", that's how last summer Bayreuth Festival had the nerve to present The Ring staged in a Texaco gas station! And there were people to applaud in ecstasy! We had the same in Paris with Aida staged in the Italy of Mussolini with PK machine guns and tanks!
Someone here has compared this movie with Midnight in Paris. What a mistake. Midnight in Paris is a superb homage to the French capital. To Rome with Love is a ferocious painting of men and women excesses and which town in the world, which nation in the world represents best the excesses of human behavior? Italy, Rome, Naples, Sicily! People shout like mad at singers if the right C has not been given by the Soprano, drive like mad in the streets of Rome or on the motorway around the Sorrento Peninsula, spend hours with their mobile phone and have two or three of them if not more, can't speak in a normal voice as not to be heard 100 yards around etc... He has softened his critic by giving us some beautiful but not original views of the city and its ruins; but that is the decoration of the plate he serves us to savor. The dish is very spicy and gives us heart-burns because we don't like to be presented with our most spiteful aspects of our characters. In doing so Allen has given a new masterpiece of ferocious humor. Thanks Woody!