Woody Allan, Scarlett Johannsen, Penelopé Cruz
Amusing enough, but not very good. 3 stars out of 5? At most.
The voice-over. Ugh. The voice itself wasn't very good, and what it told us grated against my good sense of filmmaking (whatever that is). It told us everything, it didn't show anything.
Now I know that "show, don't tell" is one of the ultimate film-credo's (they've got quite a few), but this film actually proved it by showing how not to do it. You were told how the characters were feeling while the scene progressed, which basically made the scene itself completely useless.
It felt lazy. "Tell the story and be over with it," Don't make it too difficult. Don't let the viewer guess or make up his own mind.
Penelopé Cruz got an Oscar for this one I think? She did play magnificently, but then again, her co-actors did not get much freedom in expressing themselves. "She dreaded the familiar feeling, but it was coming nonetheless, that this was not enough." but WHY, tell me WHY, instead of letting her stand in a kitchen apologetically holding her hands open to her sides.
not impressed.
