Rating: 
Summary: a pleasant surprise
Review: i was somewhat surprised by hollywood ending. it received so many bad reviews from critics that i went in not expecting much. but hollywood ending is easily one of woody's best film's in years, probably his best film since deconstructing harry.
many of woody's films are autobigraphical, and there's no question that woody is venting his frustrations at the movie industry and the american public when the #1 movie in america is alien vs. predator, and woody allen's movies barely break even in america. but he is still big in france, which he seems grateful for.
it's true that hollywood ending may not be hannah and her sisters or annie hall, but it's woody allen, and it's better than most of the crap out there today. thank fod for woody allen.
Rating: 
Summary: A So-So Film...
Review: I'm a fan of Woody Allen movies, but this one disappointed me. The premise had real possibilities too, a temporarily blind man attempting to direct a movie, but he never made much of it. "Small Time Crooks", "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion", and "Manhattan Murder Mystery" are his funniest movies in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Diverting and Amusing
Review: I've always been a fan of Woody Allen's films, his personal life notwithstanding. His latest is a wry and amusing twist on the ins and outs of the film industry, told from a viewpoint only an insider like Allen could have. Lots of jokes here about a blind director ("what was he, blind?") and his romantic foibles, and some hysterical physical humor of Allen's that recalls the best of his "Sleeper" era work. Not to be missed for a fan, entertaining for most of the rest of us.
Rating: 
Summary: Woody being Woody
Review: In "Hollywood Ending" we are served a generous portion of Woody portraying Woody, or at least how he sees himself. He's a neurotic genius, a New Yorker to the bone, too sophisticated to be drawn into La-la life styles of the other coast. Tea Leoni has a difficult role as his former wife, who in the process of steering him safely through directing a Hollywood megabudget hit, finds her love for him resurrected.
The boneheaded plot device of Allen psychosomatically losing his sight is not well done. He consistently turns his head away from those speaking. Would he not hear the direction of their voices? You will need a "willing suspension of disbelief" to enjoy this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Allen gets off a lot of one liners about the movie industry
Review: In "Hollywood Ending," Woody Allen plays Val Waxman, a film director who is on his way to bottoming out. However, he gets a big break when his ex-wife, Ellie (Tea Leoni) recommends him to direct "The City That Never Sleeps" for Galaxie Studios. When one studio executive worries that, with all due respect, Val is "a raving, incompetent psychotic," Ellie immediately defends him by declaring "He's not incompetent." However, while Val has this big opportunity to restore his fading reputation, there are a few problems. First, and these are in no particular order, his girlfriend, Lori (Debra Messing), thinks she is perfect for a part in the film. Second, while his request for a foreign cinematographer is approved by the studio, the guy they hire is Chinese and does not speak English. Third, the first day of shooting Val suddenly becomes blind. It might be psychosomatic, but blind is blind. Val thinks he should quit, but his agent does not see this as being that much of a problem. The blind director bit ends up becoming a shaggy dog story on which Allen hangs a series of jokes about the Hollywood studio system he has endured and/or taunted from afar for most of his career in making movies. All of Val's ideas for the movie represent things we have seen Allen do in his own work, such as use black & white photography to glorious effect in "Manhattan," so "Hollywood Ending" is definitely a film for someone well versed in Allen's career and not a casual viewer who mostly enjoyed his early, funny films. I was just disappointed that the blind director bit did not have more of a payoff (in that regard you see almost all of the good stuff from the trailer). Most of the good one-liners in this movie are about the film industry and not the blindness of the main character (e.g., Val is told that someone "has made some very financially successful American films," and shoots back, "That should tell you everything you need to know about him"). Perhaps the problem was that I was thinking back to "Crimes & Misdemeanors," where Allen touched on the subject of blindness in a poignant and purposeful way. But that is not his intent here, where the emphasis is clearly on shtick over pathos. I really expected Woody Allen to do much more with this subject than hang gags on it.
Rating:
Summary: Allen gets off a lot of one liners about the movie industry
Review: In "Hollywood Ending," Woody Allen plays Val Waxman, a film director who is on his way to bottoming out. However, he gets a big break when his ex-wife, Ellie (Tea Leoni) recommends him to direct "The City That Never Sleeps" for Galaxie Studios. When one studio executive worries that, with all due respect, Val is "a raving, incompetent psychotic," Ellie immediately defends him by declaring "He's not incompetent." However, while Val has this big opportunity to restore his fading reputation, there are a few problems. First, and these are in no particular order, his girlfriend, Lori (Debra Messing), thinks she is perfect for a part in the film. Second, while his request for a foreign cinematographer is approved by the studio, the guy they hire is Chinese and does not speak English. Third, the first day of shooting Val suddenly becomes blind. It might be psychosomatic, but blind is blind. Val thinks he should quit, but his agent does not see this as being that much of a problem. The blind director bit ends up becoming a shaggy dog story on which Allen hangs a series of jokes about the Hollywood studio system he has endured and/or taunted from afar for most of his career in making movies. All of Val's ideas for the movie represent things we have seen Allen do in his own work, such as use black & white photography to glorious effect in "Manhattan," so "Hollywood Ending" is definitely a film for someone well versed in Allen's career and not a casual viewer who mostly enjoyed his early, funny films. I was just disappointed that the blind director bit did not have more of a payoff (in that regard you see almost all of the good stuff from the trailer). Most of the good one-liners in this movie are about the film industry and not the blindness of the main character (e.g., Val is told that someone "has made some very financially successful American films," and shoots back, "That should tell you everything you need to know about him"). Perhaps the problem was that I was thinking back to "Crimes & Misdemeanors," where Allen touched on the subject of blindness in a poignant and purposeful way. But that is not his intent here, where the emphasis is clearly on shtick over pathos. I really expected Woody Allen to do much more with this subject than hang gags on it.
Rating:
Summary: Let's wait a minute, folks
Review: It is odd that reviewers of "Hollywood Ending," Woody Allen's most recent film, should have remarked on elements hard to accept, on its anti-Hollywood/successful film stance, and its surprise pro-Europe conclusion, without adding up these elements and finding the total: Fellini. The hint is clear from the start, a director who is unable to make the film! Shades of "8 1/2"! Moreover both directors (Guido is Fellini's, played of course by Marcello Mastroianni) have an ex-wife (estranged or divorced) portrayed with "feminine charms" minimized (Fellini made Anouk Aimee cut her hair short and wear heavy rimmed glasses). Each wife re-enters her husband's life at a crucial, challenged moment of his creativity. Both men have a "companion" ("mistress" seems more appropriate for 1962) who is in or near the set. Both men feel their film threatened by critics and potential reviewers, both are reminded frequently of the high cost of their film folly, neither "has a script" in the sense of knowing where the film is going. Guido in "8 1/2" has more personal history, but Fellini clearly conveys the idea of the crippling effect of "blindness" to others, and the need to be open to, and accepting of, ALL that one has experienced in life; Allen's film limits this reconciliation with one's experience to the wayward son. In both cases the contents of the film-to-be-made are rigourously excluded, though in both the audience gets a glimpse...a spaceship in one, a family quarrel in the other. To take this film as "right from life," New York's or Allen's, robs it of wonderful resonances. There is also, I'd suggest, a reminiscence of "After the Fox," where the Peter Sellers character also makes a movie without a plot....
Rating:
Summary: Same Old, Same Old
Review: Liek many baby boomers and other moviegoers, I grew up watching Woody Allen. From his earliest days as a guest on nightly talk shows to his first movies like Bananas and Play it Again Sam, I have been a loyal and devoted fan. Just the announcement of a new Woody Allen movie in production finds me rushing to rewatch old favorite movies of his like Radio Days, Hannah and her Sisters and the incomprable Crimes and Misdemeanors. But that said, in anticipation of seeing his latest film, Hollywood Ending, I was a bit reluctant and gun shy. Perhaps it was because the reviews for this movie were rather mediocre, although reviews seldom if ever bother me. Or perhaps it was because Woody Allen's current movies seem to repeat many of his earlier schtick. But I think what really had me hesitating was the failure of Allen's last movie, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, to deliver any of the laughs or humor which I associate with Mr. Allen's movies. But I put those thoughts aside and hoped for the best. Now that I've seen Hollywood Ending and will admit it was better than the The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, it still failed to entertain me with the kinds of laughs found in Annie Hall, the nostalgia found in Radio Days or the pathos found in Crimes and Misdemeanors. Assmebling a fine cast which includes Tea Leoni as Mr. Allens ex-wife, Treat Williams as a Beverly Hills producer and Ms. Leonis current husband and the ever tan and handsome Goerge Hamitlon as the studio executive, it is as if Woody Allen has borrowed lines and laughs from his former movies. Some work, some don't but the themes of lost loves, selling out, creative art vs. money maling endeavors, psychosomatic illnesses, neurosis and betrayals are just not new and invigorating in this this film. One might say that even a so-so Woody Allen movie is better than most films today. If thats so, stay home and rent his masterpiece movies and revel in the way he was.
Rating:
Summary: Worth going to Blockbuster for!
Review: One night, I had nothing to do and no new movies to watch, so I drove down to Blockbuster to see what I could find. Being a Woody Allen fan, this movie caught my eye, so I rented it. It was light, meaningless and entertaining; which is fine. So yes, this movie isn't histarical, it isn't Allen's best, but it kept me laughing at a few parts, for example: When Val (Allen) is talking over a drink with his ex-wife, (who had just hired him to direct a movie since he had been in a creative slump for a while) and goes from talking about the movie to "Why did you lieave me for that-that beverly hills j-erk? I think the movie will turn out great, I think Hal will be impressed." So maybe it's not the best movie, but it's worth a rent.
Rating:
Summary: Only Woody Allen could pull this off
Review: Premise: Filmmaker has the equivalent of a panic attack and goes temporarily blind during the production of his big-budget comeback film. Allen lampoons the film industry by making it possible for him to rely on others (his Chinese translator and his agent) while hiding the truth from everyone else, including ex-wife and predictably wacko present girlfriend.
There are the expected memorable punch lines and, true to the title, a Hollywood ending, but I dunno, Woody Allen's schtick is getting a little worn at the edges, isn't it?
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