Sex, vacations, art, beauty and meaningless fun.

Rating: 10/10 (17 August 2008)

In Love & Death Diane Keaton's character at one point says to Woody's character that "Sex without love is a meaningless experience." Woody retorts "Yes, but as meaningless experiences go, it's one of the best.' I think that almost describes what this movie is all about. The movie is not about work and career, children and family, or the meaning of Life. It about sex, art, vacations, beauty, danger and fun. So, it's a movie that should appeal to all those who've spent most of their lives pursuing the former. It reminded me somewhat of Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy (although without the cinematographic genius of Gordon Willis). It's also a movie that you should be able to safely take someone who's not a Woody die-hard. Some feel Woody's movies will lean toward the intellectual, but this is not that.
Also, I've never been a big Penelope Cruz fan, but, WOW, here she is the best part of the movie. Very sexy and she got some of the biggest laughs even though she wasn't really doing anything comedic, but rather by just being crazy with complete believability.
As a Woody fan who's seen the best he can do I'd give this an 8 or 9, but compared to all the other movies playing in theatres today it's definitely a 10.