Everyone Says I Love You

Woody Allen, one of my absolute favorite film directors, goes against the grain of his normal outings with a very creative cinematic device which involves making a bright, happy musical that takes the course of a normal film starring actors who've never sung before singing with their normal voices in musical numbers with no truly professional dancers. With this vastly fun element of the movie, Allen shows us life if any old person broke out into song. And that is what makes it an even more pleasant and encouraging escape that many other normal musicals.

One has never before looked at a cast the same way. I wonder what reviews were like. I can say that Alan Alda, who's always fun, has one of the very best voices in the film and even plays the piano. The same goes for Goldie Hawn, who apparently was scared to death of singing in the film. She's also still extremely hot. Julia Roberts plays a very very serious role and never sings, but it was definitely interesting to observe what she and Woody are like on screen together. He carries the scenes, and she loyally follows. Natascha Lyonne is the definite highlight of the cast, playing a hyperconfident girl in that midpoint between girl and woman whose flights of fancy make her extremely fickle with men. Edward Norton, one of the best contemporary actors we have, is actually not at his best in this film. It feels like he just doesn't know how to get comfortable in his role. His voice is OK. Billy Crudup, in a small role, is actually quite unexpectedly funny in a little number in a cab with a Middle Eastern driver. Tim Roth, an unexpected addition to the bit players like Crudup, has a great non- singing role that recalls the genre he's been working in for most of his career.

Where a lot of musicals repel most people because of their agonizingly featherweight stories, this one does what a great musical is supposed to do, which is lift your spirits and make you feel the very deepest potential of life's beauty that can possibly be pulled out of it, and because of Allen's unorthodox method, it nails it. It's one of my favorite musicals, of which there are few. It's a very interesting ensemble epic that involves all different strands pertaining to the love life and newfound wisdom of each member of a wealthy and happy family.

So, Everyone Says I Love You is pretty much the typical Woody Allen comedy, complete with all the staples that define his oeuvre; lots of neurotic characters, a performance from the man himself, New York City...only this time, there's one big difference - it's also a musical. It's well known that Woody Allen is a big fan of cinema, and therefore it is not unreasonable to assume that this film is Allen's tribute to the classic musicals of yesteryear. Everyone Says I Love You is typically Woody Allen in spite of the obvious difference in genre to the rest of his movies. I'm not a fan of musicals, and if I were to be overly critical of this film; I would say that it would have been better as a straight comedy-drama, without the musical element. However, it's the musical side of the piece that gives it it's unique edge, and dropping that from the film would have ensured that it isn't the movie that Allen wanted it to be. Not to mention the fact that the musical side of the movie makes it striking in the way that only Woody Allen can be.

For this film, Woody Allen has put together a terrific cast. Of course, a number of stars is part of Allen's trademark, but I think he outdid himself with the cast of this movie, which includes the likes of Edward Norton, Natalie Portman, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Goldie Hawn, Tim Roth, Natasha Lyonne and Alan Alda. Not to mention Woody himself. I'm not a fan of all of those film stars, but seeing a number of familiar faces in a movie together is always a treat for a movie buff. The song and dance sequences in the film aren't all that well put together, as the songs are largely unimaginative and the film fails on the whole to capture the grandeur of the classic musical. However, the drama side of the movie is very strong; and as usual, Woody's script is funny, touching and obscure in equal measure. He's given himself the best part, and has most of the other characters commenting on how great he is, but Woody Allen without a huge ego just isn't Woody Allen. I don't rate this as a movie at the very peak of Allen's filmography, but it's a strong one and it's recommended to his fans.

Psychologist Steffi Dandridge (Goldie Hawn) and lawyer Bob Dandridge (Alan Alda) head a liberal upper class Manhattan family. The extended family includes Steffi's ex Joe Berlin (Woody Allen), their daughter Djuna Berlin (Natasha Lyonne), Skylar (Drew Barrymore), Lane (Gaby Hoffmann), Laura (Natalie Portman), grandpa with dementia and the black sheep Republican son Scott (Lukas Haas). Holden Spence (Edward Norton) is in love with Skylar. Von (Julia Roberts) is one of Steffi's patients. Charles Ferry (Tim Roth) is an ex-con.

This is a Woody Allen musical. The music is easy listening and everybody does a good job singing. Some are surprisingly good but the songs aren't terribly challenging. The overwhelming family can be hard to take. I would have preferred some trimming of the family tree. It would have been better to concentrate on one relationship. The effect is a bit scatter shot.

This is a wonderfully funny story, affectionately parodying old-time musicals, and evoking a nostalgic regret that they are not being made any more. Some of the vocalizations are amateurish (Alan Alda is an exception) but Dick Hyman's musical arrangements and the performances of the musicians are fine. Alda's rendition of the old Cole Porter song "Thinking of You", accompanied by the marvelous Dick Hyman on the piano, is first rate.

Woody Allen provides many hilarious moments. He uses the great violinist Itzhak Perlman as the punch line to a carefully constructed gag. He uses the invasion of privacy of a session of psychoanalysis as an offbeat plot device. He satirizes the romantic young and the do-gooding impulses of the old. He takes us from Manhattan to Venice and Paris. He involves us in old tunes and comically elaborate dance routines. He gives us a good time.

Everyone Says I Love You is one of the very few movies I have ever gone back to the theater to see another time. I even bought the tape.

In an old fashioned musical, the loves and losses of an extended upper-class family in Manhattan are followed in song from NY to Paris and Venice.

The company logo comes onscreen followed closely by the white title on a black background. Seconds later we are into the first song as two young lovers walk in the park - and it's not until 100 minutes later that it lets you go again. The plot is nothing more than lots of strands of love and loss tied together by family connections. None of the stories really have any great significance but are backed up by wit and some charming song and dance numbers. This is whimsy at it's very best.

It feels like Woody Allen has really relaxed and is making films that hark back to an older age - indeed his usual style is tuned down a little to make it more accessible and more enjoyable. He has several black characters, his humour is witty but less cruel than usual and his narrative is driven by a teenage girl rather than himself. It feels so free of his usual cynicism that it adds to the weightless charm it already has. He handles the song and dance scene with such vigour and such imagination that you find yourself wondering why he hasn't done a musical before.

The superb cast all catch the charm and light feel perfectly. Not all of them are great singers but they all do well and give their best (except Barrymore who refused and was dubbed). The usual stars are complimented by plenty of well known faces - Alda, Goldie Hawn, Lucas Haas, Portman, Tim Roth, Roberts and of course the wonderful Edward Norton.

This is 100 minutes of lightweight wonder. It has no rough edges, no difficult issues, no cruel jokes and very little swearing. Only the coldest heart could fail to warm to this little charmer.