To Rome with Love

Another bland and half dead film by Allen. Rome has a lot of charm, but it can’t do much by itself. Storywise, To Rome with Love is about nothing and when it comes to the humour, well, I chuckled a little here and there, but nothing hilarious, really. Everything is ruled by predictability and lack of interest. Even the on paper strongest and most original absurd story of a bureaucrat who becomes famous out of nowhere… Everyone knows how it will turn out: that the exaggerated interest by the press will vanish just as fast, that he will feel relieved immediately after, but soon will start to miss his fame. And that is actually it. I wasn’t crazy about Midnight in Paris, either, but objectively it’s substantially better than this one. (14.12.2012)

Although Woody’s previous visits to the old continent (and most of those to London too) are a cut above this, it doesn’t mean that this satirical farce in Rome isn’t any good. It is good, but at the same time too over-combined, so the good in it (and there’s lots of that) is mixed up with everything average to bad (and there’s a lot of that too). (14.07.2012)

Woody Allen seems to be paying tribute to all the most romantic places in Europe. For the umpteenth time, he films a story of several people and couples that is equally entertaining and incredibly "heartwarming”, experiencing everything from falling in love, through everyday routine, to stormy breakups and the search for the meaning of life. Allen is traditionally strong in dialogue lines and gripping script twists in the almost intimate personal tales and thoughts of the main characters. It is very enchanting and very cleverly directed. Unfortunately, it is only for a very specific type of audience who enjoy these kinds of stories and see at least a partial reflection of their romantic selves in them. For the rest, it will just be empty blabber, always the same, with the incredibly gorgeous Penelope Cruz. (19.05.2013)

I won't be too harsh, because I had a good time - even the love triangle, which would have been really stale, was pleasantly revived by Woody Allen this time with a "conscience" played by Alec Baldwin and helped by the excellent Ellen Page. But apart from that, I was really impressed by the parts with the celebrity from the people (the perfect Robert Benigni) and also with the singer in the shower, which reminded me of Allen's absurd short stories. And Penélope Cruz was also sensational - besides her breathtaking beauty, she was able to use her comedic talent this time, which she did. (17.01.2016)

Woody Allen continues to travel around Europe, and this time he visited one of the most important cities in history. Rome, where civilization was built. However, as one heroine of the film remarks, it is strange to see something so beautiful reduced to ruins. Italians are a nation that is specific with their nature, love for cuisine, which I share with them, that is their love for their cuisine, but they also love football, good clothing, and music. Woody Allen focused mainly on music in one of his stories. That is the best part of the whole film. The music is perfect, but that is nothing unusual. Woody Allen simply has an ear for music. Although Italian is used in the middle of the film, I did not feel that the film expressed much about Italian nature. The plot of the individual stories, which make up the film and are interconnected without any connection, except for the location, could easily take place anywhere else. It could be in New York and one would not be surprised if Italian was spoken. It is a pity that Woody Allen got so little out of it. This time it is really just about the stories and he did not seem interested in the setting, as he used in the film "Vicky Cristina Barcelona". That had to take place in Spain. The nature of the Spaniards was portrayed brilliantly there, which also applies to the film "To Rome with Love", where Penélope Cruz appears in one of the stories again. Some actors give excellent performances, while others are rather invisible, Robert Benigni's storyline is completely unnecessary, even though he tried. It is very pleasing that Woody Allen himself returned as an actor, being wonderfully absent-minded, stubborn, and crazy again. However, "To Rome with Love" is not the best film Allen has made recently. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/01/volte-me-sousedska-hlidka-universal.html (04.03.2013)