To Rome with Love: Fluffy & Skewed

To My Reader,

Do you ever have thoughts about existence? Do you wonder why we all work like busy bees when at the end of the day, we die? By the time anybody’s twelve or so, you’ve probably had these questions, rather fleeting or budding a life-long plague. Why do we all keep going?

Mr. Woody Allen, in an interview to Huffington Post, regards his opinion on the point of art. “ Distraction. I'm obsessed with: Can I get this actress or my third act to work? I'm distracted. I'm interested in that so I don't sit home and think, "Gee, life is meaningless. We're all going to die. The universe is pulling apart at breakneck speed." So I'm distracted with relatively solvable trivia.”

And that’s exactly what To Rome With Love is. It’s pleasant, solvable trivia. But the splendor in Allen’s work always comes from his sneaky ability to hide intricate questions in simple stories. Beneath the lovely romance, tongue-and-cheek dialogue and quirky comical scenarios, the film finds ground in it’s exploration of life.

Sure, there are dramas out there that wear their dilemmas on their sleeve (cough Lars Van Treer cough).  But if we all walked around with stamps on our head, “Alcoholic,” “Neurotic,” “Afraid of Grass-fed Cow meat”….we’d all be living in rehab hell. The reason why Allen’s films have stood the test of time is because we’re watching people struggle against their problems. Oh, and it happens to be hilarious.

This film is a kaleidoscope. And, thank God, they all have nothing to do with each other: complete strangers just all living in lovely Rome. There’s Haley (Allison Pill) who’s fallen for the Roman Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti) and now is engaged. When her parents, played by the wonderful Judy David and Mr. Allen himself, meet Michelangelo’s family, her dad Jerry has an idea. Michelangelo’s father is apparently a ridiculously good opera singer…in the shower. Jerry’s set on making him a star.

A newly-married, fresh-faced couple, Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) have just moved to Rome. They plan to start a new life, but when Milly gets lost in the city one afternoon, chaos ensues. We’re all wondering how the infamous Penelope Cruz fits into the puzzle. This time around, she plays a whore and, as usual, she’s deliciously charming.

Then there’s Jack, Monica and Sally. A bundle of ripe faces reminiscent of Allen and his many muses in his on-screen hay-day:  Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Greta Gerwig. Ellen Page is enchanting as the crazy-out-of-work-once-a-lesbian-literary-works-name-dropper-selfish-but-still-oh-so-sexy-actress Monica. Whew. She’s a doozy. And despite the warnings of his wise counselor John (Alec Baldwin), that she’s a total “bull-shitter,” he still falls for her. It’s nice to see Baldwin cloaked in Allen humor. It works, well, and they start shooting their next collaboration in August: score!

Perhaps one of the most unexpected, but pleasantly surprising plot lines comes from Roberto Benigni. He plays the average Leopoldo who one day becomes famous…for nothing. It all seems out of place in the film at first, and then it’s so perfectly on point. It’s as if he transcended every day life to Kardashian status. Paparazzi, inane, stupid questions from the press and women at his feet in the flip of a hat. The nonsense slowly becomes more and more realistic. Society can be mindless zombies.

There is always some common thread to Allen’s work. Otherwise, especially in To Rome With Love, they would fall to pieces. At time’s you wonder what the point to all this fuss. Why should I waste my time with all these silly people’s lives and problems? But the film clearly explores exploitation, amongst other issues. And although Allen can sometimes slam you over the head with cliché themes about fame, sex and celebrity, you still listen…

It’s a film that frolics across the screen. You have a jolly time watching it, laugh a little, amuse a little, no tissues required, which is nice. The sweetness of the film allows you to walk away and call it your “distraction” for the evening if you like. But it can’t be denied that Allen always leaves you with one or two questions to mull over for the next few days….sneaky guy.

 With Love,

Meredith