CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

akafilms Where can we start? I just saw this film on HBO. I know its 15 years old but any good film will hold up over time (ie Casablanca). This might have been better without Woody playing the lead. It seems so over acted. He is more whiny than ever. Mark Rydell is very good. As a filmmaker myself I see the "reality" of the process but I don't think he would have ever gotten the job in the first place. The photography is the most orange I have ever seen. If I shot a film like this, I would be fired. It costs 16 million and made back about 4 million. Very few filmmakers can make films that lose money although today very few films are making a profit. I now understand why he started going to France to make his films. For some reason they make money when shot over there. When you hear a lot of voice over it shows that the film is in trouble and the direction and script aren't enough to tell a story. Someone has to explain whats going on. I like his early work that was very funny but this is not funny. The Chinese cameraman bit is funny for a minute, this really happens on movies. It seems he tries to create these love stories where he is always with a beautiful woman which would never happen in real life. He is a very proficient filmmaker. It seems the stories are very much the same. The jazz soundtracks are getting old too.

Werewearer Woody Allen can get any actor he wants to be in his films because he's Woody Allen, so this film has a great cast. Tea Leoni, Treat Williams, George Hamilton to name a few. The comedy is subtle; so much so, it's almost on life-support. Allen's comedy is absurd and fun and that's entertaining, but there are only a few big laughs.The conflict: If you believe Woody's character, movie-director Val, is really worried about his career's impending demise, and that's the premise at the start, you're alone, but the suspense does kick in when Val loses his sight.Unfortunately, the psychosomatic blindness is milked through the entire movie, much to its detriment. There are two possible reasons Val goes blind: 1. He is blinded by his alienation from his son, or 2. he's blinded by his ex-wife, Ellie's (Tea Leoni) engagement to a megalomania-cal screen mogul, Hal (Treat Williams). One of these two plot-lines takes the lame-red-herring-award-of-the-decade.About the performances: Tea Leoni should have been nominated for an Oscar. She owned the film. Debra Messing, who plays Val's live-in dumb girlfriend Lori, puts on a 1940 period costume to act in Val's movie. Messing is the spitting image of Ingrid Bergman, in particular the hair-do and nose. Spooky. Treat Williams has never been better as the controlling, manipulative movie producer. George Hamilton has big laugh lines. Woody's Val is effective, but a little flat.I blinked many times because the whole movie seemed to have been filmed in a lengthy master shot. I never notice the close-ups in Woody's movies. Maybe it's the cinematography. this film is fun because there are so many wonderful characters in the frame at any one moment.

R H There are certain Woody Allen movies that I don't fully appreciate- I don't like when he films in black and white and I'm not a big fan of slapstick comedy. The movies I prefer are the witty, dialogue rich, relationship based, contemporary feasts. I also prefer Allen to star in his own movies, mostly because when he doesn't, the lead character tends to be doing an imitation of Allen. This film, although I wouldn't give it a ten out of ten, certainly featured all of these ingredients.Once again Allen has surrounded himself with an amazing cast of actors who aren't nobodies, but aren't quite superstars. I don't know if he chooses actors based on chemistry, or if that is something that just comes together when one is working for him. Whatever it is, it is on full display throughout Hollywood Ending.Allen, as usual, plays a neurotic, under-appreciated, genius (called Val) with a knack for speech. He's a genuine artist who has been fired one too many times and is therefore stuck working on commercials and other lowbrow jobs. He has a live in girlfriend, an actress played by Debra Messing, who is pretty much just around because Val doesn't like to sleep alone. After getting fired from his last big picture, he is dumped by his then wife, Ellie (Tia Leoni) for the head of a studio, Hal (Treat Williams).As Val is stuck in Canada filming a commercial (that he eventually gets fired from), Ellie is in Hollywood with her new Hal, trying to get him to use Val to direct their newest film. Everyone in attendance agrees that Val is a great director, but no one wants to hire him because of his mental problems. Finally Ellie convinces to Hal to give Val a chance and things begin to look up.The night before filming is about to begin, Val makes an emergency call to Al (Mark Rydell) because he (Val) has suddenly gone blind. Trips to the doctor reveal that there is no brain tumor (as Val had obviously expected), nor are there problems with his eyes. Instead, as his analyst (of course, it is a Woody Allen movie) explains, it is completely psycho-somatic. Pressured by Al, Val decides to not tell anyone else and attempt to direct the movie anyway.Mayhem obviously ensues, as it's never easy to direct a movie without the use of the eyes. Al agrees to be Val's guide, but on the first day is told that he is not allowed to be on the set. Eventually, after many hilarious incidences, the movie gets made.Although the movie comes out horrible and Val is ultimately discovered, happiness does prevail. Life doesn't often have happy endings, so when one happens in a film it tends to feel forced or corny. Not with Woody Allen; maybe it's because so many of his movies do not end sad, or because even some of the films that end happy are also sad, but Mr. Allen sure knows how to make a happy ending out of a mess.Overall, there have been better Woody Allen films and there have been worse. I would rank Hollywood Ending somewhere near the top of his list though. It never ceases to amaze me how Allen has written and directed over 70 films, many of which have the same general plot, and yet he never seems to lose his freshness.

Christian_Dimartino Woody Allen has his great movies, he has his good movies, he has his okay movies. Hollywood ending isn't his best, but it's his most underrated. I really don't see why it's so bad. I mean yeah the plot is a little ridiculous, but I was entertained and laughed a lot.Allen plays a has been movie director named Val Waxman. His ex-wife(Tea Leoni), who's fiancé is in the movie biz, offers him to direct a movie that she knows he'll do great with. But complications arrive. Val can't get over the fact that she left him for a dick movie producer. And things get even worse: He goes blind.Alright, so the film isn't great. The plot isn't exactly original, and it is unfeasible. But the film made me laugh. I think it's entertaining to say the least. I am kind when it comes to Woody Allen films. Because he's a rare movie director that can still make funny and entertaining romantic comedies.One thing about his films that has always bothered me are his fantasies. Why in the world would people like Helena Bonham Carter, Debra Messing, or Mira Sorvino ever hook up with him? I prefer the Allen films without him. Like Match point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, his masterpeices.I like all of his films. Some more than others. I just wish that he wasn't so vain. I like Allen. I think he's a pervert in real life but I like his movies. Same thing goes for Roman Polanski. Allen has done masterpeices. Hollywood ending isn't a masterpiece, but's a solid piece of entertainment.B+