WHATEVER WORKS
WHATEVER WORKS is a cliché that often concludes an erudite tirade by sixty something New Yorker Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) which is ironic since he has nothing but contempt for anything cliché. We find this out when the cranky curmudgeon in a weak moment allows Melodie St. Ann Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood) a destitute southern woman, sanctuary in his loft and ends up mentoring her. Although you pray it won’t happen a summer / winter relationship blooms but it’s not as creepy as you might imagine and the unlikely couple end up married. Running counter to what you’d expect she doesn’t really soften his nihilistic resolve but he on the other hand has a subtle fatalistic effect on her. Thing really get interesting when Melodie’s separated parents Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) and John ( Ed Begley Jr) show up separately only to find their Christian moral repression severely challenged by the Big Apple. Whatever works is a hyperventilation fix for fans of the prodigious Woody Allen and Larry David effortlessly transposes all his neuroses from Curb Your Enthusiasm to this latest offering from the writer/ director. Why it took so long for these two to work together is a mystery as they could be twins. Perhaps they are just way too similar to have worked together but collaborating here really works so, whatever!