To Rome With Love

Another screenplay nomination for Woody Allen? Probably yes. If the academy is used to and will continue to endorse his eccentric but totally hilarious style of script writing. Woody Allen – to my knowledge has got the maximum awards for screenplay to date – 4 (none of which have been collected by him because of his commitment to jazz – or the story goes). I personally would not be surprised if this is a 5th. What I am surprised about – and pleasantly at that – is the braveheart distributor in India who decided to release the movie in line with the US Markets – a phenomenon that hasn’t been seen to date with most of his other movies. Good for us I say.

To Rome With Love is, as the name suggests, an ode from the master writer to the city of Rome and the nuances that come from being there. It traces 4 stories through the length of the movie – 2 of which are in Italian and 2 in English. Probably an experiment from Woody – I don’t remember having seen such a combination before. However, unlike our funny Indian film makers, the Italian parts are in – guess what – Italian!!!! Not like a Hindi hero talking to an American or of late Australian cop in pure Hindi

Nevertheless, we have Jerry (Woody) and Phyllis (Judy Davis) who have to make a trip down to Rome because their daughter Hayley (Alison Pill) has fallen for an Italian lawyer called Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti). The name is Michel – not Michael. Mind it. Michel works pro bono (free) most of the time for the oppressed classes and has strong views on stuff like unionism – almost Communist in nature. Jerry is a retired Music Producer and Phyllis a psychiatrist.

In another part of Rome, we have John (Alec Baldwin) who has returned to the Rome that was home to him around 30 years back. He relives the entire time in Rome through the character of Jack (Jesse Eisenberg) who is currently seeing Sally (Greta Gerwig). But is soon to find himself torn between Sally and her best friend Monica (Ellen Paige) who visits the couple to get over a break up with a gay man who she hoped to change.

If you don’t think this is funny then there is the comedy of errors story of a newly married couple – Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) & Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi). The former is in Rome to network with his uncles who are extremely well known in the business fraternity. Milly is a demure, naïve school teacher from a village in Italy. When Milly goes off to get her hair done, Antonio’s friends decide to send in a high class call girl – Anna (Penelope Cruz) to make his day. This story is truly funny.

And if all this fails to excite you about the movie then I suggest you skip the 2 hours because you are not going to be too excited about the prospect of the extremely funny and quirky Roberto Benigni essaying the role of Leopoldo – an ordinary office worker whose life gets thrown into fame thanks to the Italian media who makes him into a larger than life character.

If there is one thing I would love to learn from Woody Allen it would be his capability to bring to life so many characters. Even the most insignificant traffic policeman who begins the movie is fleshed out in a matter of seconds. If you are a Woody Allen fan then this one you cannot miss. If you are not then this one may just about get you to fall for this genre of alternate humour – I love Woody Allen – and let me assure you that it is not because I should love him or it is a very cool thing to say. I think you will enjoy To Rome With Love. 8 on 10. Don’t miss it. Potential Oscar nomination for Penelope Cruz - Best Actress in a supporting role.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3170738201/

The Man Who Sued God

Steve Myers (Billy Connolly) is a lawyer by professional qualification. But the legal profession was never really his “cuppa” as they would say down under. He chooses to be a fisherman instead. An you would not blame him if you see the work environment that he has. Nice laid back coastal village in New South Wales. Pristine Blue Waters. The sun shining down its really mellow rays which are warm and just the right temperature to sit back and enjoy your fishing – even if it is on a daily basis. He is not really doing too well for himself but is happy with his young (about 10 years old) daughter Rebecca (Emily Browning) who he has visitation rights to, thanks to his divorce with Jules (Wendy Hughes). Matters aren’t getting any better especially when lightning strikes Steve’s boat and blows it to smithereens. It shouldn’t be too bad right especially if its covered by insurance. But that’s not to be. Every insurance company needs to find a reason to deny claims and in this case, our scheming insurance company denies Steve his claim calling it “An Act of God”.

Now what exactly is “An Act of God”? And who has the right to define what qualifies under the phrase. Can it be done by a bunch of people who represent the insurance company. Are they qualified to be experts in the matters that pertain to the person upstairs? Or should it be left to the church to decide as to what falls under Acts of God and therefore be the right people to pass judgement on the issue? So, Steve Myers decides that he has had enough of the insurance companies playing the fool with innocent people. But he doesn’t sue them. He decides to sue God instead. Now the church, being the representative of God, have to respond to the summons. If they are unable to, then they are proven not to be God’s representatives. And if they do respond to the summons and lose the case, then the insurance companies are bound to have a tough time against the church eventually. Either ways, the public is bound to win.

Billy Connolly’s performance as The Man Who sued God is fabulous and rib ticklingly funny to say the least. He is ably supported by the rest of the cast especially Judy Davis who plays the role of Anna Redmond, the local reporter and eventually Steve’s love interest. Mark Joffe’s direction is also good and doesn’t let the movie wander in different directions. You can be rest assured of not losing attention through the movie.

Add this to the list of the many movies that never see the light of the day back home and totally deserve to. But the trend is slowly but surely moving in the right direction as can be seen. And will continue to do so for sure the way things are going. At the end of the day, one really cannot blame movie houses for not releasing the so called not so commercial movies because they are in the business of making money for their organizations and not just promoting great cinema right? So the only way out is to employ a few dozen people whose job is to only see movies all through the week and pass their judgment on the quality of the movie and more importantly whether the movie will work or not. I would be more than glad to volunteer for the job (on a part time basis to begin with ). Would be great fun for sure!!!! 7 on 10 for The Man who Sued God.