4. Whatever Works (2009)
When it was first announced that
Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm's Larry David would be starring in a Woody Allen film, I was completely overjoyed; if there is anyone who would "get" Allen's sense of humour and gel creatively with him, it would be a fellow cantankerous nitpicker like David. And indeed, while David excels well enough in the film, Allen's sharply misanthropic script feels abrasive and embittered - who knows why? - rather than delicately prickly like most of his previous films (at least the better ones, anyway), which is surprising given that the script was partially concocted during Allen's golden period in the 1970s. Still, there's little of the charm infusing his best work - despite a luminous Evan Rachel Wood playing opposite David - and the cynical title of the project seems to reinforce the precise problem; it is unenthusiastic, and truly feels like a director churning out a film a year like a gun is being held to his head. Shame, as it had the potential to be one of Allen's best late-period works.