Woody, Larry, Rachel, Patricia

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The Whatever Works team -- director-writer Woody Allen, costars Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood and Patricia Clarkson -- held a press conference early this afternoon at the Hotel Regency. Here's an mp3 of the whole thing. A good thing, several laughs, time well spent.

Allen, typically candid and clever and self-deprecating, got the biggest laughs. David amused here and there but was mainly plain-spoken. Clarkson got off a few good ones. Wood looked very uptown and older than her 22 years with reddish swept-back hair -- Suzie Parker circa 1958.

I asked a slightly off-center question about how much of the humor and dialogue felt misanthropic when I first saw Whatever Works a few weeks ago, particularly in the way Allen views folks from the hinterlands, but that two recent political murders by right-wing loonies had made the film seems less misanthropic on a certain level. Woody got a good laugh when he answered that he's "against murders," but then he went with the thought and riffed a bit about what a horrific and threatening place the world seems to be on a daily basis.

"Think of that one scene in Hannah and Her Sisters when Max Von Sydow, playing a cynical painter, rails against money-mad Christian preachers, and then multiply it 100 times and then make it a bit meaner," I said in my 4.22 review, trying to sum up the film.

"But what the characters say and finally do in Whatever Works isn't cause for anyone's misanthropy. The story is about people changing and adapting and going with the flow, and it ends on a gracious and generous note."

(I. to r.) Patricia Clarkson, Larry David, Woody Allen, Evan Rachel Wood -- Thursday, 6.11, 2:10 pm.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 11, 2009 at 12:28 PM

comment #1

NightWriter says ...

As a long-time Allen admirer and a TV viewer who considers Curb (but scant few other shows) must-see-TV, my reaction when I first heard about WW was nearly ecstatic. Will it be a great film or at least at the level of Match Point or VCB? To me, it doesn't really matter. The combination of David acting in an Allen film is too juicy to pass up. I know I'm a) gushing and b) setting myself up for a giant letdown but I am psyched for this film like all the fanboys are drooling for Transformers 2. If it's half as good as Hannah and Her Sisters I'll consider the $12.50 well spent.

Who gets to make adult comedies besides Woody Allen anymore? Talk about a sub-genre in recession, if not total extinction.

Posted by NightWriter at June 11, 2009 1:53 PM

comment #2

George Prager says ...

Should've asked him about Jon "von burr" Voight.

Posted by George Prager at June 11, 2009 2:00 PM

comment #3

Emmanuel_Goldstein says ...

Hey Wells(and everyone else) - I'm traveling to Europe for the first time this week... any travel tips for me in general? I'll be in Italy(Rome and Venice), Vienna, Prague, and Paris.
Thanks for any suggestions

Posted by Emmanuel_Goldstein at June 11, 2009 3:10 PM

comment #4

tpk123 says ...

"Wood looked very uptown and older than her 22 years..."

But she sure came off amateurish and immature in that clip. And did she have to be chewing gum?

Posted by tpk123 at June 11, 2009 3:13 PM

comment #5

judy says ...

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Posted by judy at June 11, 2009 3:15 PM

comment #6

Steven Kar says ...

Can someone get rid of "judy"?

Posted by Steven Kar at June 11, 2009 3:55 PM

comment #7

rr3333 says ...

Wood's got more mileage on her body than Lindsay Lohan.

If I were here father, I'd ground her for life. What kind of parent lets this kid whore around like that?

Hey Jeff: Time to ban Judy. You're usually on top of these things.

Posted by rr3333 at June 11, 2009 4:55 PM

comment #8

Ulysses says ...

ERW is now dating the chap who used to play her brother on "Once and Again".

Posted by Ulysses at June 11, 2009 5:08 PM

comment #9

Manitoba says ...

Many thanks to Jeff for the MP3 of the conference at the Hotel Regency with Woody, Larry and company. I played most of it before having to head off to dinner and was pleasantly suprised. Both the participants and the media seemed to be having a good time and there were some half decent questions and responses. I was interested in Allen's comment that he would like to do more films in NYC but money is often a problem. I guess when you operate on or near the edge of the mainstream, financing is both a challenge and a miracle.Allen was asked one question about a recent article on changes in humour, especially Jewish humour.I think I read that article within the last week. The author seemed to be pondering whether Allen was only part of the past. But listening to him today, he still seems interested in and at least parlty relevant to our contemporary world. After hearing Robert Osborne note this week on TCM ,the shortness of the career of Preston Sturges, it is nice to see Woody Allen still trying to do his thing.

Posted by Manitoba at June 11, 2009 6:07 PM

comment #10

efbrackett says ...

Fine, maybe the movie is good (I have doubts). But the advertisments on this site are annoying. Watching Larry David pop out at me is freaky.

Posted by efbrackett at June 11, 2009 6:54 PM

comment #11

Stringer Bell says ...

Hot off the Press' : Poor Cher.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090612/ap_on_en_tv/us_people_chastity_bono

Posted by Stringer Bell at June 11, 2009 7:34 PM

comment #12

Stringer Bell says ...

which begs the question : has there ever been an Oscar winner who's child had a sex change operation?

Posted by Stringer Bell at June 11, 2009 8:34 PM

comment #13

Stringer Bell says ...

besides Cher ... of course

Posted by Stringer Bell at June 11, 2009 8:37 PM

comment #14

Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy says ...

Bravo to Woody taking Jeff's provocative (and, at last, not-run-of-the-mill) question first as a straight-line set-up for a classic-style Woodyism- brilliant - and then weaves it into an illustrative point about society.

Thanks for providing, Jeff.

Posted by Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy at June 11, 2009 10:14 PM

comment #15

Wrecktem says ...

That gum smacking is ga-ross. Cannot stand looking or listening to that snatch when she's gnawing on gum like that.

The reason the Larry David ads seem so off on this site is because you've never seen Larry David ever smile in any of his body of work until this ad.

Posted by Wrecktem at June 11, 2009 10:41 PM

comment #16

DeeZee says ...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i3e1dd505ba9ec42eebdffee55576ef26
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i3e1dd505ba9ec42e90ed0a5fa9b1ff49
http://www.fancast.com/movies/The-Taking-of-Pelham-1%2C-2%2C-3/22089/828490151/The-Taking-of-Pelham-1%2C-2%2C-3-%3A-Full-Length/videos
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090610/REVIEWS/906109994

Posted by DeeZee at June 11, 2009 10:48 PM

comment #17

Terry McCarty says ...

Emmanuel Goldstein wrote:
Hey Wells(and everyone else) - I'm traveling to Europe for the first time this week... any travel tips for me in general? I'll be in Italy(Rome and Venice), Vienna, Prague, and Paris.
Thanks for any suggestions

If you're in Paris, visit the Musee d'Orsay.

Posted by Terry McCarty at June 11, 2009 11:01 PM

comment #18