Not Much Love for "Rome"

Rating: 4/10 (20 September 2013)

One of Woody Allen's easily disposable movies, full of half-baked ideas and a bunch of story lines, none of which is interesting enough, either dramatically or comedically, to hold your interest.
The best part of the film, other than its gorgeous Italian setting, is the presence of Allen himself and that of one of his regulars, Judy Davis. Any time the film veered away from them, I sat impatiently waiting for their return, despite the fact that the film gives these two actors, both so talented at being funny, absolutely nothing funny to do. But the film doesn't give any of its cast -- which includes Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Greta Gerwig, Roberto Benigni and Penelope Cruz -- anything to do either, so Davis certainly shouldn't take it personally. She just landed herself in one of Allen's stinkers. Too bad she couldn't have gotten a part in "Blue Jasmine," a film that reminded me why I return to Allen again and again despite his tendency to make three terrible movies for every good one.
Grade: C-