Six Thoughts about You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

1. The ensemble cast is quite possibly one of the most talented Woody Allen has assembled in quite a few years - Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts.

2. However, best in show belongs to British actress Gemma Jones, portraying an older woman abandoned by her husband (Hopkins), who gets a sports car and a young ex-hooker wife amidst his mid-life crisis. First, she tries to off herself. Then she finds the strength to go on thanks to a psychic who begins to tell her what to do in every aspect of her life. Of course, she also meddles in the life of her daughter (Watts). She's the spark of life in this movie and had the film been a little bit better, and a little bit more successful, she probably could have made a semi-successful run during awards season.

3. However, best storyline belongs to Josh Brolin's Roy. Roy has a medical degree but no desire to practice medicine. Instead, he wrote a successful first novel, but his follow up books haven't shown any of the "promise" he once offered. Struggling to finish his fourth book, his marriage is falling apart and he becomes obsessed with a pretty young girl (Freida Pinto) who moves in across the street. Then an opportunity arises for him. He takes it, and it backfires completely.

4. The plot is very familiar feeling since Woody this is firmly Allen's wheelhouse: men having mid-life crises and marrying younger women, cheating spouses, main characters lying and stealing, those things completely backfiring, an all-knowing narrator. Of course, this his fourth film in the last six years to take place in London as well.

5. Josh Brolin is ridiculously hot.

6. Overall, the movie was only average for me. It's quite apparent that I am more than a little obsessed with Woody Allen by now. I love his films. Annie Hall is my favorite movie of all time. Obviously, he'll probably never make a movie as important as some of his older films and that's fine. He's still an important cinematic voice who demands to be heard. He still has a lot to say (even if most of it is rehashing of old plots and character types). The facts are these - an average Woody Allen movie is still better than most people's best film. I'd rather watch 5 minutes of a bad Woody Allen movie than two hours of a "good" Michael Bay movie. So, in closing, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is good, not great. It doesn't match up to some of his better recent offerings (Match Point, Vicky Cristina Barcelona), but it's more memorable than others (Cassandra's Dream, anyone). I would definitely recommend it, but then again, I would recommend any Woody movie that isn't called The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.

Grade: C+