Hollywood Ending (2002)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Hollywood Ending" is about a washed up film director from the 1970s and 1980s named Val Waxman, played by Allen (Anything Else), who gets a final chance for a comeback when his exwife and movie executive Ellie, played by Tea Leoni (Spanglish), convinces her finance--also an executive--named Hal Jaeger, played by Treat Williams (The Devil's Own), to hire Waxman for their new studio project. However, Waxman, a nuerotic mess, allows his bitterness towards Ellie to affect his work, especially since she's engaged to the man who stole her away from him, and is now Waxman's boss. However, Waxman's problems reach a pinnacle when he psychosomatically loses his eye sight the day before his new picture starts filming. At the advice of his agent, knowing another neurotic wrench in Waxman's career would kill him for sure, convinces Waxman to try and fake his way through the production until his eye sight returns. Although the writing on this picture was near flawless, and the comedy of it was genius, Allen as the leading man is just as horrible as it has ever been. It's a catch 22 situation with him. All his well written and directed works star him in it, and his suck-a** films are the ones where he stays behind the camera. It's a phenomenon, I tell you. Debra Messing (The Wedding Date) plays an aspiring actress who's Waxman's live in girlfriend at the top of the film. How is it Allen is able to not only get one hot female character to want him, i.e. Messing, and not only two female characters to want him, i.e Leoni, but THREE HOT FEMALE CHARACTERS TO WANT HIM!!!! The third was Tiffany Theissen (TV's Saved by the Bell). I need to learn his tricks. Anyways, Messing was very funny and solid as the blondest redhed I've ever seen on film. There is always one female role in Allen's pictures who is the total dunce, and Messing stepped up well. Her performance was great. She lit up every scene she had. Allen and Leoni, as much as I hate him IN the movie, make a good divorced couple. They had a very good chemistry, but it was obvious Leoni sat back and allowed Allen to have all the great lines. Leoni showed class on this. Their first meaty scene together is an absolute riot. Allen's direction was strong, paying close attention to characters' blocking to represent where they were in their relationships. Stage directing as its best. With all the women hitting on little ugly neurotic Woody Allen, I had a problem suspending my disbelief for most of those scenes; however, I laughed a lot and was very pleased I bought the DVD of "Hollywood Ending" without viewing it first. If you're into Woody Allen pictures, this one is his better made film since the turn of the millenium. If you don't like Allen's works, he will annoy the living crap out of you. If you're indifferent, pick this one up, and you should have a big laugh with it regardless of the little wrinkled neurotic man in the middle of it. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
Once again, writer/director Woody Allen comes up with an extremely funny script with this movie. His joke writing has such perfect rythum, you could dance to it. However, he cast himself in the lead causing the film to be less than perfect.