Monday, November 3, 2003

Everyone Says I Love You Imagine, if you can, what a film musical filled with classic songs, dance numbers and set pieces would be like if set among the very well-to-do in New York today, and written and directed by Woody Allen. You might be imagining something very close to Everyone Says I Love You. It's in the 30's tradition of movie musicals about the well-to-do (remember all those bias-cut gowns and men wearing top hats in the 30's? They didn't live in the Bowery) with a Woody Allen storyline and characters, and set in glamorous New York, glamorous Paris, and glamorous Venice. A great cast of actors sing and dance -- and act -- their way through the story, which has a suitable number of reverses and complications that almost all smooth out by the end of the film. Alan Alda, Goldie Hawn, Edward Norton, Julia Roberts, and Woody Allen himself and many others follow the seasons from Spring through Winter of a year in the life of an amazingly extended family. There's an homage to the Marx brothers (an overt one, as well as all the others); but my favorite story element is discovering the reason for the son's political beliefs. Also: Edward Norton (Roger Ebert called him "that protean actor") is to dance as Rex Harrison is to song, at least in this movie. Terrific! 8:31:50 AM

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