Ozymandias Melancholy

Rating: 5/10 (21 July 2012)

Greetings again from the darkness. I certainly consider myself a fan of Woody Allen's films and am in awe of his prolific ability to write and direct a new movie most every year since 1969. With so many films to his credit, it's expected that a few will be clunkers. After a pretty nice run of non-New York based films, his love letter to Rome falls short ... not from lack of ambition, but rather from a feeling that these stories have been on his "to do" list for too many years. They feel mostly stale and dated.
With one of the world's most beautiful and interesting cities as a backdrop, Mr. Allen delivers four stories - none of which intersect with the others. There are some similar shared themes, but mostly what the four stories have in common is mass overacting by all involved. Surprisingly, the one exception might be Alec Baldwin, whose wise-cracking lines are played pretty close to the vest. Unfortunately, all of the other key actors seem to think they are onstage at a dinner theatre and that hyper-activity and bellowing lines are lines required.
In one story, Woody Allen (his first acting gig since Scoop) and Judy Davis head to Rome to meet their daughter's (Alison Pill) fiancé (Flavio Parenti). Allen overhears the father singing in the shower and works out a scheme to get him an audition that leads to a career. The father is played by famed Opera tenor Fabio Armiliato and this story is so goofy, it could easily fit into Allen's "early funny ones".
Another story has newlyweds played by Alessandro Tiberi and Alessandro Mastronardi in a series of innocent happenstance that leads to some not so innocent events that include her favorite actor (Antonio Albanes) and high-priced call girl (Penelope Cruz). Most of this has the feel of a Benny Hill skit.
Jesse Eisenberg and his girlfriend Greta Gerwig share time with her visiting friend played by Ellen Page. This is the Alec Baldwin sequence and he is a near-ghost-like entity who pops in to provide obvious advice or warning to the players so they don't make the same mistakes he made as a younger man. This sequence had potential, but never amounted to much.
The fourth story is just an absurd commentary on reality TV and instant fame. Roberto Begnini plays a normal Italian citizen and family man who one day gets thrust into the world of celebrity for no apparent reason. See, that's the joke. Probably ten years past the time when this was relevant.
Bashing Woody Allen is not my intent here. Simply pointing out that there are four stories and numerous actors and none of it struck a chord with me. Not to say there weren't a few well written lines and a couple of terrific shots of Rome ... just not enough to keep me going for two hours.