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Everyone Says I Love You - DVD
Director: Woody Allen Writer(s): Woody Allen Producers: Robert Greenhut Studio: Miramax (dist by Buena Vista) Characters: Woody Allen - Joe Julia Roberts - Von Goldie Hawn - Steffi Alan Alda - Bob Drew Barrymore - Skylar Edward Norton - Holden Features: Widescreen 1.85:1, ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Mono Review: I'm afraid this is yet another Woody Allen movie that I can't recommend to first-time viewers. This time, though, it's a little easier to explain why. It can be done in one word, in fact: "Musical". I absolutely love Edward Norton. He is one of the most talented actors around these days, which is all the more impressive considering his age), and he has tried his hand at several different types of roles, of which this seems the most odd a choice to me. I wouldn't have pictured an uninteesting, dopey guy who sings as the ideal resume companion to the disturbed youn man in Primal Fear, the inspiring lawyer in The People vs. Larry Flynt, the unbelievably menacing skinhead in American History X, and the disaffected combatant in David Fincher's forthcoming Fight Club. But then again, what do I know -- everybody wants to work with Woody Allen. Hmmm... I seem to have talked about Norton for a bit longer than intended. No matter. My point was that despite my love for Norton and certain other members of the cast, I had some serious reservations going into Everyone Says I Love You. Unfortunately turns out they were well-founded. I'm not sure exactly what I thought Woody would do to counteract the displeasure I experience from the average musical, but whatever it was, he didn't do it. The movie would be quite good without the musical numbers, and it manages to remain quite watchable despite them, but the fact remains that musicals simply aren't my thing. The story is fairly typical Woody Allen -- several people are having some confusion relating to their love-life. They rather humorously and/or neurotically persue some different solutions to their problems, ultimately finding an answer of sorts, though not necessarly the one they might have wanted. It really is a good movie, but I find the musical numbers off-putting. 'Nuff said. Actually, that's not quite 'nuff. I really love one scene in the film. I'm not going to really say anything about it, but it is a dancing scene, and it is a bit more fanciful than the rest of the film. It was really executed beautifully and added a great deal to the film. The DVD presentation is acceptable in every way, though it is film only, as can be expected from Buena Vista (and Woody Allen). I definitely recommend a rental first on this one, as some will definitely find the musical aspect a major turn-off. There are, of course, others who feel that this is the best movie Woody Allen has made, so definitely don't take my opinion as law (this time... you usually should, though). -- John
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