May 1, 2002

Hollywood Ending
(Dreamworks) Rated PG-13
Release Date - May 3, 2002

This is one of the most unpleasant reviews I’ve ever had to write.  Recall the old bromide, “Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.”  And hell, I would never suggest that Woody Allen is pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes.  But when I saw the car wreck that was The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, I just assumed that it was fueled by too tight a budget, some bad creative choices and that occasional Woody Allen screenwriting failure.  When DreamWorks previewed Hollywood Ending, at their shindig a month or so ago, the trailer looked strong.  Great!  Woody’s back!  Then they showed some extra clips, targeted at the Hollywood crowd… and they were all disappointing.  Oh well… clips… who knows?

Hollywood Ending is the most disappointing Woody Allen movie ever.  He has a great cast and a great idea.  But the execution is a flop with the exception of about six gags that really work.  At best, it’s a smiler, not a laugh-out-loud-er.  At its worst, you can sit and watch the jokes develop like they were in the comic version of bullet-time and you can see the construction problems.