...from Amazon Studios and writer-director Woody Allen. In 1950's Coney Island, former wouldbe actress and current waitress Ginny (Kate Winslet) is unhappily married to occasionally violent carousel operator Humpty (Jim Belushi). Ginny's son (Jack Gore) from her first marriage is a budding pyromaniac, and she's also having an affair with aspiring writer and current lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake). Their routine is upended when Humpty's daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) shows up on their doorstep, looking for a place to hide out from her gangster husband who wants her dead for talking to the cops. Carolina catches the eye of Mickey, and Ginny starts to spiral out of control.
Allen does a pastiche of Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams, with sad, desperate characters looking for meaning in their lives. But at least Allen isn't shy about admitting his inspirations, as a character in the film gives the collected works of O'Neill as a gift. Winslet is good, although I had to grow into her performance, which is big and broad. This is one of the first times that I've seen her playing a woman worried about her age (she's turning 40 in the film; Winslet was 41 or 42 when they filmed it). Belushi is another name for the list of performers I never expected to see in a Woody Allen movie, but he fits his role perfectly. Pop singer Timberlake also acquits himself well. If it all doesn't add up to a lot in the end, it's still enough of an interesting character study to be worth a view, as is the colorful, evocative cinematography by Vittorio Storaro.
Allen does a pastiche of Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams, with sad, desperate characters looking for meaning in their lives. But at least Allen isn't shy about admitting his inspirations, as a character in the film gives the collected works of O'Neill as a gift. Winslet is good, although I had to grow into her performance, which is big and broad. This is one of the first times that I've seen her playing a woman worried about her age (she's turning 40 in the film; Winslet was 41 or 42 when they filmed it). Belushi is another name for the list of performers I never expected to see in a Woody Allen movie, but he fits his role perfectly. Pop singer Timberlake also acquits himself well. If it all doesn't add up to a lot in the end, it's still enough of an interesting character study to be worth a view, as is the colorful, evocative cinematography by Vittorio Storaro.