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Woody Allen may have finally found his voice. As a writer, there is no one in America who can tell a few stories in so many different ways. Most recently he remade Crimes and Misdemeanors and titled it Matchpointcasting a young, sober and all too solemn Johnathan Rhys Myers.   In two curious pieces of casting he had Kenneth Branaugh(Celebrity) and Will Ferrell(Melinda and Melinda) in two of the most awkward miscasts in recent memory.  However, Whatever Works, while it comes with flaws, offers us the new Woody Allen in Larry David.  Finally, an actor has come along who can play a Woody Allen lead without a poor imitation of the man's whiny cadence and nervous mannerisms.  Instead, we are treated to pure Larry David and a real characterization which transcends the Woodman's usual pitfalls. LD has his own quirks and it makes the union of the two comic actors a thing of beauty to behold. One could only wish for more outings with the two. 

In terms of story, it's Allen's usual love story with the kind of not-so-surprising ending first offered in Hannah and Her Sisters. The replay of this is not altogether unpleasant but like his most recent films, comes with a recycled feel to them. So, maybe this is the director's way of going green. The elements most fans will be familiar with are the relationship between an older, wiser if neurotic man with a young naive girl(Hannah and Her Sisters), the eccentric lead Woody Allen character spouting out the everything-happens-by-chance philosophy he is so fond of contradicting in his story lines, and the opportunity for a great supporting actress to shine in this case the young lead actresses mother, Patricia Clarkson, who arrives and is transformed from a southern, Neo-con into an adventurous artist and  woman of New York City style passion. One of Allen's virtues remains his ability to write women characters with full dimension and to find the right unknown  actress for the part. However, he has a limited understanding of Christianity and draws the fundementalist leanings of two of his characters in a flat and stereotypical manner.  

But, the film belongs to Larry David. He has been able to take his own character, basically himself and place him into the illusionary world of Woody Allen where all but a few actors seem merely like the director's puppets and extension of himself. Instead, David brings us a new fresh perspective on Allen's comedy and breathes life into the recycled forms Allen has been  repeating for several years.  For this reviewer the flaws of the feeling of a recycle script(it is actually thirty-two years old) and sometimes strained comedy, don't outweigh the pleasure it is to see Larry David on the big screen having an obviously good time with Woody Allen. 

Terry Roland