To Rome with Love (2012) - Rome, Dear Rome!

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2012)

Writer-director Woody Allen not only continues to make a movie almost every year, but also continues his European exploration genre of films with his latest movie, "To Rome with Love", which even though it didn't have the same taste and wonder found in "Midnight in Paris" or "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", it's still a decent and enjoyable motion picture from Woody Allen. Set as an ensemble motion picture, "To Rome with Love" follows the paths of different story lines, all going back and forth with one another. There are so many story lines, that it's kind of difficult to keep up with them, all in one time. You seem to forget one storyline, then it leads to another, and then you go back to the one you forgot about, and you realize that it was still in the movie to begin with. But at least Woody Allen peppers those story lines with great performances, great writing, and good precision. Even if the movie kind of felt too long in the process. In one storyline, Jesse Eisenberg suddenly falls for his girlfriend's exotic best friend, played by Ellen Page, while the hilarious Alec Baldwin tries to persuade Eisenberg that it just might not work. Also, the very iconic Roberto Benigni returns on the screen, who becomes famous for no exact reason. Penelope Cruz stars in her second film with Allen, as she plays a prostitute who has been asked to fill in as a lawyer's wife. Then, there's the one and only Woody Allen in a very hilarious performance as the wise, fast-talking, and often awkward man who tries to take the father of his daughter's fiancée, and turn him into a great opera star. Some stories are entertaining, while others just flat-out don't even matter. I will say that I was a little disappointed by this movie, but at least I wasn't overall. I still seemed to enjoy the experience of that movie. The writing is top-notch, the acting is brilliant, the sights of Rome look beautiful this time of year, and the music is just gorgeous. But there's really not a lot of something else to make this movie brilliant. This movie still had something missing, which I wasn't found impressed by. Even though "To Rome with Love" isn't one of Woody Allen's finest masterpieces in a while, I will say it's perhaps a rather decent one! "To Rome with Love", in my review, "earnest and decent, but nothing remarkable".