Can we finally identify Woody Allen’s insistence on reusing the older man/younger woman storyline as pathological? It’s central once again in Whatever Works. The decision isn’t maddening because of its offensiveness or lack of creativity (though both gall), but in this case because it squanders a golden acting opportunity for Larry David. David plays Boris Yelnikoff, a miserable former physicist who now spends his days explicating the stupidity of humanity and the pointlessness of existence to his extremely patient friends. Yes, this sounds a lot like the Larry David of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” yet David delivers an even more honest form of bile – as well as more than a few actorly nuances – here than he ever did on his cable show. Then, alas, arrives Evan Rachel Wood, a teen runaway with pigtails, a Southern accent and extremely short shorts. They get married, her mother and father (Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr.) catch up to her and David gets pushed to the sidelines. At this point, you have to wonder if Allen is laughing at us laughing at him. If it is all a joke – and at this point it has to be – then a potentially great performance from David gets sacrificed in the process.
