Written and directed by Woody Allen

With Alec Baldwin, Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Roberto Begnini, Penelope Cruz,

Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Page, Alison Pill, Flavio Parenti, Alessandro
Tiberi, Flavio Armilato

Fortunately, some things never change. Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love” is undeniably old school Woody Allen. Sillier than last year’s “Midnight in Paris” and lighter than a feather this film has his requisite neurotics, fantasy fulfillments, and existential angst. And Rome never looked more gorgeous and sun kissed.

There are four stories that are unconnected to one another. They even occur in different time frames. But everything hangs together.

Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastroandi) are attractive but slightly boring

newlyweds having just arrived to enjoy the pleasures of the Eternal City. They become involved in a tangle of farcical situations when Milly loses her cell phone and are forced to become unfaithful to one another..  Anna (Penelope Cruz), a high/low class hooker, adds hilarity and spice to their scenario.

Jack (Jesse Eisenberg channeling Woody Allen), is an anxious New York architecture student. His girlfriend Sally (Greta Gerwig) is a pleasant but unexciting woman. Her young actress friend Monica (Ellen Page) appears on the scene and Sally invites her to stay with them. 

Monica is a self absorbed, pretentious, narcissist woman who is catnip to Jack. Jack is followed by John (Alec Baldwin), an architect reliving his own time as an architecture student in Rome. He is a cynical voice of reason, popping up to give his opinion to Jack whenever Jack is tempted by Monica.

Then there are New Yorkers Jerry (Woody Allen) and Phyllis (Judy Davis), who have come to meet their daughter Hayle’s (Alison Pill) Italian fiancé, Michelangelo (Flavio Paretti), and his parents.  Crazy stuff happens. Jerry is a retired opera director who happens to hear Michelangelo’s mortician father, Giancarlo (Fabio Armilato) singing in the shower. He decides the man has an extraordinary operatic voice and decides he wants to promote him. However, Giancarlo can only sing while showering.Jerry comes up with a madcap solution to this problem.

The other story involves Leopoldo (Roberto Begnini), an everyman who becomes a celebrity overnight. Literally. Instantly he is hounded by paparazzi, appears on talk shows, is pursued by gorgeous women, is asked what he eats for breakfast (toast and jam). Everyone is awestruck and hangs on his every  mundane word.

The acting in this romp could not be better. Everyone is a bit of a caricature, which is intended. Fabio Armilato is a true Italian opera star. His singing is glorious. No one is as funny as the loose-limbed and bewildered Roberto Begnini as he tries to evade legions of fans and photographers. Alec Baldwin is great as the solid, avuncular voice of reason as he makes his remarks to Jesse Eisenberg. The cast are all very fine comic actors.

Woody Allen’s work often borders on the ridiculous. His witty situations in film are legend by now. It is all pretty frivolous; it is lots of fun with picturesque escapism galore. If Rome is not in your travel plans, “To Rome with Love” will whisk you there. Cappuccino, anybody?

Moonrise Kingdom

Directed by Wes Anderson

Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

With Jared Gillman, Kara Howard, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, and Tilda Swinton

“Moonrise Kingdom” is an enchanted love story about a pair of offbeat 12-year-olds who attempt to create their own paradise of purity and goodness, away from the pettiness of the adults in their lives.

Director Wes Anderson, known for his films about people who don’t fit in, is a film industry cult figure who takes huge risks and delivers films unlike any others.  His films have detailed sets, quirky costumes, and are loaded with wit and irony. He is a darling of movie critics.

Sam Shakusky (Jared Gillman) is an orphaned overachieving pre-teen who is bullied and taunted in his Khaki Scout Troop at Camp Ivanhoe, which is located off the Coast of New England. The Khaki Troop is led by the ineffectual, knee-sock wearing Scoutmaster Ward (Ed Norton). Sam wears a coonskin hat and thick glasses. It is 1965.

Suzy Bishop (Kara Howard) lives with her always-feuding lawyer parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bishop (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray), and three hyperactive little brothers. Her parents communicate through the use of bullhorns and sleep in separate beds. Her mother is having an affair with the woebegone local cop, Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis).

Bookworm Suzy lives in an fantasy world far away from her boring but chaotic surroundings. She and Sam have had enough and set off on their own to run away together. She brings a record player, binoculars, a pink suitcase and a striped kitten. Sam brings every imaginable piece of hiking gear, including an air gun. They meet at an uninhabited end of the island and set up camp, creating their own miniature world. They aim to create a happy-ever-after place.

However, the course of true love never did run smooth. The heavily armed Khaki Scouts, Scoutmaster Ward, Suzy’s parents and Captain Sharp set out to find the youngsters. A tight-lipped Social Services officer (Tilda Swinton) is ready to put Sam in an orphanage where Sam may or may not have electroshock treatments. The resentments and jealousies among the adults overwhelm the search. The Khaki Scouts are no better. 

As they search, a terrifying apocalyptic storm of  Biblical proportions scatters the pursuers. Mythic floods wash away the Khaki camps.

A cavalcade of Hollywood stardom is represented by the cast of Moonrise Kingdom. Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, Ed Norton, Tilda Swinton and Bob Balaban appear in this beguiling film. But what really holds “oonrise Kingdom together is the performances of the two young stars. Both Kara Howard and Jared Gillman exhibit purity, determination and the power of young love. They act like adults and the adults act like kids.

The sets, carefully manipulated by director Anderson, are perfect dioramas. The light has a faded quality, as you might find in photographs in your old albums.   The acting couldn’t possibly be better. The soundtrack is beautiful. A nostalgic aura of times gone by suffuses the film.

Wes Anderson clearly understands adolescence and what it is to be a troubled teen who doesn’t fit in. He shows us that some wounds of that period cannot be healed, but can be lived with. This odd and lovely film has elements of a whimsical fairy tale, as well as some Biblical references. But mostly. it is a tender tribute to the power of young love.