My offical review of the film "Whatever Works", by Woody Allen
Woody Allen spent the 1960's and early 1970's making movies that were pure comedy. Looking at these films now, 40 years later, you can see hints of the deeper themes that were to come in his later films, but these early films were mostly concerned with laughs. Starting in the mid-1970's he began to make movies that dealt with more complex themes, contrasting questions of morality and God with day-to-day intincts like sex and the need for simple amusement. These were movies filmed sometimes through his unique brand of humor, or other times as serious dramas, but the basic theme was usually the same: is there a God, against whom I can measure my own instincts, to determine right or wrong? Is it possible to feel an instinct or carry out any kind of act that can be determined as absolutely right or absolutely wrong?
Many people found these questions in his films distracting. Many people preferred his humor over the themes of his films, and his films were long successful for these reasons. He is a good writer, and other people enjoyed his films for his stories dealing with drama or romance or humor or sexuality. But from the mid-1970's onward, there were few films that didn't deal with these deeper questions, either subtley or more directly.
Since some time around the late 1980's, or early 1990's, he has been making movies where he offers his own answer to these questions. In his previous films he often posed the same question in each film, and concluded that the answer was no. There is no absolute standard by which all instincts and actions can be judged for everyone. There is no absolute right or wrong. All questions of morality and ethics are situational.
But in almost all his films he mentions a serious problem with this answer, referring to an event that cannot possibly be judged as relatively good, only as absolutely wrong. Nazis. These comments about Nazis are usually in the context of quick dialog, and usually in the context of humor, but the word is in almost all of his films. Everyone hates Nazis. No one argues that Nazism was good in one light, and bad in another light, but ultimately somehow morally relative. The Nazis are judged by almost everyone via using absolute terms like "evil". Woody feels the need to use an absolute standard to judge this extreme event, even though he says this absolute standard does not exist. He can't bring himself to say that Nazis are morally relative, they have to be absolutely evil. He can't help but use an almost religious word desite not believing in God. And he knows this is a problem for anyone who takes the question seriously.
But his answer is this: don't worry about it. Live life as best as you can, enjoy it, and don't spend it sweating over questions that can't be answered. The solution to life's probing questions is the title of this film, Whatever Works. Whatever works for you, do it. Don't worry about the moral questions, as long as it works for you, as long as you don't hurt anyone in the process.
He first stated this answer to his own questions explicitely in his film "Hannah and Her Sisters", in the scene near the end where he is watching a Marx Brothers movie in a theater. After spending most of the movie on a religious quest, Woody finally decides that the Marx brothers' approach to life was the best: live, laugh, and do the best you can, for life is short and it's over before you know it. He has made this statement in many of his films since then, and in this film, Whatever Works, it is stated over and over again, and explained, all within the context of humor.
Larry David is excellent in the main role. He plays the role that would normally be played by Woody Allen himself. Woody apparently wrote this script in the late 1970's, shortly after finishing Annie Hall, but he never filmed it until now. This film has some similar aspects to Annie Hall, with Larry David spending time speaking directly to the camera, talking in great detail about his angst in life and things that bug him. He is funny, yet his monologue bears a second viewing, since he expresses Woody's questions and his answers very clearly. Life is frustrating, confusing, we are surrounded by mediocrity and stupidity, so what is a deep-thinking person to do?
The answer: Whatever Works. The story follows Larry David reluctantly letting a young homeless woman stay in his small New York flat for a while, and though she gets a crush on him he spends all of his waking hours talking about how dumb everyone is, including her. But she still likes him. He spends each day in a deli chatting with his friends, who politely listen to his grumpy rants. There are several sub-plots involving romances and the usual Woody Allen stories of sexual adventures. And then in the end all of the sub-plots wrap up nicely, and everyone is happy in the end.
All of these stories are funny in different ways, yet also poignant. This is one of Woody's better films in recent years and I plan to see it again. I'm not sure I agree with his conclusion though. Yes, life is short so don't spend all of it worrying about existential angst, and we need to be pragmatic. But, unlike Woody, I believe in God and I believe that his reaction to Nazis is because he knows that this need to use absolute terms to describe this event is the reality of God and his "absolute standard" of ethics and morality that Woody feels. Woody chooses to take the question less seriously and have fun in life, but I choose to answer the philosophical question with a religious answer, and approach life in the same way as he does, but with the question more clearly answered.
By the way, I didn't hear the word "Nazi" used once in this film. This may be the first of his films in which this word is never mentioned. But he did mention the Taliban once. Perhaps this will be his new expression for ultimate evil. Nazis are a bit out-dated these days, and everyone hates the Taliban, so they are a more useful image these days than Nazis. So perhaps Woody is updating his vocabulary for modern times. I'm sure many modern Germans will appreciate his new choice of words...!
So, I share Woody's passion for his questions, but I accept an answer that he wants to reject and look behind. I still like him, and I like this film. I will add it to my Woody Allen library.