Though Clarkson acquits herself reasonably well in a terribly conceived role, her entrance interrupts David’s hilariously twisted mentorship of Wood and sends the movie careening in a far less promising direction.
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Whatever Works feels like something out of time and, worse, out of step. Hell, Allen wrote the script back in the 1970s for Zero Mostel.
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Features enough genuine laughs to give it decent commercial traction.
There was always a dreaminess in his vision of the city, but now it feels as distant as the polished floors and the Deco furnishings of the Fred Astaire movies that Boris finds--of course--whenever he turns on the TV.
It's hard to get past the primitiveness of Allen’s fantasies.
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
New York PostLou Lumenick
It isn't the laugh riot of the year.
50
VarietyRonnie Scheib
VarietyRonnie Scheib
This far-fetched, deliberately artificial game of musical chairs -- in which mismatched characters encircle, attract and repel each other -- feels forced, often losing itself in excess verbiage.
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The fact that Allen wrote the script in the '70s explains something about why his newest movie feels so old.