To Rome With Love

25 October 2012 | 4:42 pm | Vicki Englund

In his good years, Woody Allen's films are some of the most delightful cinema you'll experience. After last year's hit, Midnight in Paris, there'll be plenty of people heading to see To Rome With Love, and chances are they'll be happy. It won't go down as one of his masterpieces, but it's a witty ensemble comedy, with Allen paying homage to the eternal city.

The man himself is in front of the camera for the first time in years, and Judy Davis plays his wife. Allen is a neurotic (naturally!) opera director who travels to Rome because his daughter – the wonderful Alison Pill (Newsroom, In Treatment) – is marrying an Italian. He discovers that his future son-in-law's father has an amazing operatic singing voice – but only in the shower.

Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page have an interesting shared story that weaves in a bit of magic – one of Allen's much-used devices – while Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful) also has a surreal story when, after wishing he wasn't such a nobody, he wakes up to suddenly be so famous that he's hounded by paparazzi. The scene-stealing Penelope Cruz does another star turn for Allen after her Oscar-winning stint in Vicky Christina Barcelona.

A great cast of characters sprouting classic Woody Allen dialogue in a gorgeous setting. What more could you want?

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In cinemas now

In cinemas now