The Details
- You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
- Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones
- Directed by Woody Allen
- Rated R
- Beyond the Weekly
- You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
- IMDb: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
- Rotten Tomatoes: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Like a lot of later Woody Allen films, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is sort of a greatest-hits compilation of the filmmaker’s favorite devices: ill-advised romance between an older man and a younger woman; a frustrated writer whose successes are behind him; highbrow banter about art and literature; even the arch narration that worked so well in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. These elements aren’t as strong here as they have been in Allen’s better films, but combined with the strong cast, they provide enough entertainment to please longtime Allen fans and casual viewers. The movie’s story of romantic frustration among upper-class Londoners is hardly original, but it finds Allen ruminating seriously on aging and regret and is especially well-acted by Naomi Watts in the main role. At this point, it’s all just variations on a theme, and Stranger is a minor but pleasant variation.
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