Boris is a kind of the central figure in the movie. He touches everybody and change their life and make them happy, his life changes as well. It's kind of that Boris a supernatural, he knows the meaning of life and knows everything as he know that this is a movie and some people are out there watching them. It should not be surprising that he is depicted as a genius physicist. That would understand the universe and abolish the religion.In the movie, while some's life change to a more untraditional and deviated sexual life, some's go in the "right" direction. Deep religious mother enters into a life of 2 husbands and a wife living together and father enters into a gay relation, whereas the daughter moves from marrying a very old man to a similar age boy friend. So what Woody Allen would want to tell us? Life is unhappy, but after some unexpected coincidences people find their matches ? Reason leads to the wrong matches while the chance produces happy relations? Both premises are broken by the case of Melody. Initially Melody seems to go via the chance and later continue with by match of reason and plan. But one can say Melody and her boy friend were the only young couple, other being elders. Anyway we can't conclude any outcome on these. We can't say that Woody tries to favor perverted relations, because what Boris and Melody finally do is quite acceptable to the society and conventional . I may say the movie is a harsh critic to religious dogmas and taboos and it highlights the the fact that chance could create a happy lives. At least it has a well organized down to earth story and playing is amazing.

Woody Allen is back to doing what he is famous for - clever introspective comedy - and he still does it well. He detoured into making crime-dramas, three of them - Matchpoint, Scoop and Cassandra's Dream. All of these were good, and one, Matchpoint, was brilliant. Then he made a pretentious drama, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which wasn't good (but people seemed to like it just the same).Whatever Works sees him back to comedy, and back to his beloved New York (the previous four were all set in Europe). With the setting comes the standard Woody Allen neuroses, paranoia, depression and general philosophical musings that have been a hallmark of his films. The surprise is, for once he doesn't play the neurotic, paranoid, depressed lead character. No, this time Woody Allen stays behind the camera, and Larry David, of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame, takes the part.Larry David does a great job in the role. He was born to play the curmudgeon, and play the curmudgeon he does, to the limit. It can wear a bit thin at times, but mostly he is screamingly funny. Supporting cast are great too. Evan Rachel Wood is convincing as the dumb innocent Southern belle, and Ed Begley jr and Patricia Clarkson are solid as her parents.Plot is good. Maybe a bit underdeveloped - some things happen too quickly and some characters seem too flexible - and some things seem a bit trite, but it works in the end. The dialogue, however, is great. Almost as good as Allen in his heyday of the late-70s and 80s. Biting, caustic, clever.A very funny movie.

An improbable story whose talkiness would possibly be better served on the stage as opposed to the screen, "Whatever Works" nevertheless serves as a fitting summary of Woody Allen's view of life: existential yet weirdly optimistic, especially in its' happy conclusion, where the individual contours to whatever fate delivers. Larry David (kudos for resisting the usual Allen imitation) plays an ornery, solitary genius who somehow marries a ditzy Southern belle (Evan Rachel Wood, terrible) and together they face the challenges brought upon them for being so mismatched, especially when her separated parents (Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley, Jr.) relocate to New York. What's primarily disappointing about "Whatever Works" is that Allen's vaunted wit is scarcely apparent here: though it tries really hard, it just isn't that funny. The film's premise needs to be a lot stronger to compensate for the shortfall dialogue but isn't. Still, you leave with a satisfied feeling as David's straightforward addresses to the audience go a long way toward elucidating Allen's points in a way that we can tie together without feeling Allen's usual condescension. I'll give Allen that.

The movie Whatever Works is a film that I would not normally view. It was recommended to me from a friend, and being open to new films, I decided to give it a view. I was happily surprised to find it rather interesting. It was written and directed by Woody Allen, and it was released in 2009. There are some big actors in this film, and some that are not so much known. Larry David plays the part of Boris Yellnikoff. This is the main character in the film. The second main character in the film is Melodie St. Ann Celestine, which is played by Evan Rachel Wood. Boris Yellnikoff is a native of New York and has this attitude and way of thinking about everything that pertains to life. Sadly, they are mostly about how nothing is really that important since we are all going to die one day anyway. Melodie St. Ann Celestine is from Mississippi and has the complete opposite way of thinking, but she is very impressionable and starts to think like Boris. This eventually leads to a marriage between them that is unlikely going to last indefinitely from the start. The way these two characters mesh together and their unlikely and strange bond that they hold to one another, you find yourself indulged in this slow but intriguing story. It keeps you roped in to see how it all plays out. There are many side stories in this film that will keep you wondering as well. Wood Allen has created the most annoying and cynical character I have seen in a long time, but at the same time the character is also very compelling and intriguing. Boris's downer persona does speak some truth whether you want to admit it or not. Woody Allen wrote the screenplay of this film in 1970's. The film was shot in New York City. Woody Allen wrote the script in the 1970's with the idea that Zero Mostel would play the part of Boris. When the actor, Zero Mostel passed away in 1977, the film was put back until the 2000's when Woody Allen decided to try and make it again before the Screen Actors Guild's possible strike.The film was filmed with Boris actually acknowledging an audience watching the story of his life after his divorce. He speaks to the camera explaining the story along the way while the other characters cannot comprehend an audience. This enables you to be drawn in even more. The clothing and choice of music that is brought into the film also gives you the sense of Boris's age being very much older than Melodie. She is young with vibrant colors in her wardrobe, and Boris is bland and plainer. His choice in music is also from a time period much different than Melodies, and hers is more up to the current time period. Overall, this film is very interesting and enlightening even though it is somewhat slow moving at times. If you do enjoy this film, then you should view another Woody Allen film called Mighty Aphrodite. It is another good film from Allen that was released in 1995. It is basically along the same lines as Whatever Works, but is more modern for the times. Anyway, Whatever Works is another Woody Allen classic that will hold its own in any film library.