Writer/director/actor Woody Allen strikes again, keeping up the momentum of a film a year, with this year's installment being "Cassandra's Dream."
Brothers Ian and Terry always dream of big things, and both are having serious financial problems. Their very rich Uncle Howard comes to visit, they both ask him for about $100,00 (each) to bail them out of their current woes and fund their own separate business ventures. Uncle Howard says he will help them out, but admits that his finances are under investigation.
If they help him, he will help them -- and the good uncle asks them to kill an old business partner who is set to testify against him. Seemingly a simple request, the brothers plot and carry out the murder, but having to live with the consequences may be more costly than either brother had bargained for when they took on the job.
Ian (Ewan McGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell) both bring a degree of talent to the angst-ridden roles. The story is not terribly different from Allen's "Match Point" (2005), though without the watchable Scarlett Johansson, but Hayley Atwell as "Angela" will help us forgive that detail.
The cast were able to carry us along at a good clip, and the script was not quite as Allen-neurotic as some others in the past, which worked for me as well. (I have good and bad Woody Allen days, truth be told, but I wasn't having a bad day with him in leaving the theatre on this day in particular.)
All in all, it's a fairly watchable movie, though I'm still a bit in awe of "There Will Be Blood," so this may be a bit pale by comparison when using that yard stick. Standing on its own, however, it's a decent way to spend an evening.
Cassandra's Dream would be the name of the brothers' boat, by the by.
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