You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
In Woody Allen's new film, two couples who start playing the field again discover that the grass isn't greener on the other side.
Directed by Woody Allen
(R)
**
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Woody Allen seems “awfully anxious” to lower expectations at the outset of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, said Bob Mondello in NPR.com. Aping Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he informs us that this tale is “told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Allen is far from an idiot, but it’s true his romantic black comedy doesn’t add up to much. Anthony Hopkins and Gemma Jones play an elderly British couple who both suddenly decide to start playing the field, said A.O. Scott in The New York Times. Meanwhile, their daughter (Naomi Watts) and her husband (Josh Brolin) are doing the same. Trying to get more from life, the couples end up with less. Allen has been exploring this same “metaphysical pessimism” for decades, but this time around even he seems to have “grown indifferent to it.” Allen’s tone isn’t boredom—it’s melancholy, said Keith Uhlich in Time Out New York. Considering the filmmaker turns 75 this year, the tall, dark stranger of the title could signify death. Watched with that in mind, the film seems a “bracing addition to an erratic, yet indispensable, oeuvre.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Democrats now have a chance to present a vigorous, compelling case'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What has Kamala Harris done as vice president?
In Depth It's not uncommon for the second-in-command to struggle to prove themselves in a role largely defined by behind-the-scenes work
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
How Black organizations quickly pivoted and mobilized for Kamala Harris
In the spotlight Harris has a shot at being the first Black woman to lead the Democratic ticket
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published