To Rome with Love (2012)

Penelope Cruz and her dress

A few disparate people roam Rome with more lust than love, and with mixed results. But it doesn't matter, as the film is supposed to be just a bit of a comic romp, That is, comic in form but not particularly funny. Woody Allen looks not only geriatric but also tired and seems to be just going through the motions. Judy Davis is supposed to play Woody's foil and deliver the punch lines but falls flat each time. Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, 2010), looks totally out of place and Penelope Cruz wears a dress that is busting at the seams, not that there is anything wrong with that in the right places. Roberto Benigni does Mastroianni ala Felini's Dolce Vita ad-nauseum, one elongated joke that should have been cut at the first bud. Alec Baldwin turns up in every scene with Eisenberg to offer his cliched wisdom in all matters of love. Talking of cliches, they could have at the very least left out that old hackneyed 'Arriva derci Roma' and 'Volare' tunes, it irritated the hell out of this Woody Allen fan. As for enjoying the Rome sights, well we are dished out the Spanish steps and all the street restaurants, the Coloseum and (yawn) other treats.
After the unexpected success of Midnight in Paris one could be forgiven for thinking that this was a formulaic production but Woody probably had this on the board whist still making the former. Dissapointing. Can do much better.