(- Scarlett = Success)

Rating: 7/10 (22 September 2008)

Far from Woody Allen's best, with that said I am far from sold on Scarlett Johansson. In my opinion she has been very lucky to work with good directors and be surrounded by great actors. In this film she is completely out shined by both Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, more so then any of her previous films. All I could think during this film is how a movie about Bardem and Cruz's characters would be way more interesting and at the same time spare me from Scarlet Johansson and her winy voice and sub par acting skill. Woody Allen is known for his quick, witty and intelligent dialog and most the time throughout this film it's present and promising, except of course when Johansson makes her attempt at it. The dialog does not sound at all convincing coming out of her mouth, it is as if she has no clue what she is saying and how her character should be delivering her lines. Not to mention the fact that her character doesn't even seem smart enough to talk the way she does. In another Allen film, Matchpoint, her part was to play the sexy, alluring and tempting girl, so natural that comes easy to her, but here she stands out like a sore thumb. Anyway back to the film itself, about three times this film feels completely Woody Allen, the characters are smart, witty and very interesting. Then later they turn winy, self obsessed and just plain boring in there search to find the meaning of love. Blah.