funny, free and imaginative but doesn't amount to much

Rating: 6/10 (22 October 2012)

Throughout his career, Woody Allen has managed to portray the details of human relationships of almost any kind, combined with a sense of dry humor, intellectual references with a personal touch.. going through 4 uneven, unrelated stories placed in the beautiful city of Rome, Woody Allen, the master of repartee (how awesome it is to see him still able to deadpan a line like none other), manages to create an intelligent film, plunging his characters into a world of art and knowledge. under the seal of comedy, Allen brings up the absurdity and silliness of love, relationships, adultery and fame. and despite the weakness of the two stories starring Roberto Benigni and Penelope Cruz, Woody Allen cleverly plays on the perception of roles. however, the lack of cohesion in the stories and the themes prevent the viewer from being hooked, and they ultimately feel like snippets of stories which Allen has already told in previous movies. also, Rome here could be anywhere else; Allen failed to capture the essence of the place, nor the best-case scenario as he did with Paris, London and Barcelona, let alone the odes he has devoted to New York.. It remains true that To Rome with Love is a funny, free and imaginative movie but, like Benigni's character's fame, it's only fleeting and doesn't amount to much