Console best movie i've ever seen.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

oOoBarracuda I'm ready to admit a struggle in Woody Allen's filmography. I don't know if it was DreamWorks Studios attempt to curtail Woody Allen to more family-friendly fare, or if Allen actually did experience a rough patch in creativity, but the early 2000's so far have been underwhelming. Watching The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Hollywood Ending back to back, I was most stricken by the seeming lack of direction the two films shared in common. Both films had a plot that just seemed to ebb and flows throughout the film rather than being catapulted through by a witty and strong script as I've grown accustomed to from a Woody Allen film. Hollywood Ending was Woody's 2002 film starring Woody Allen and Téa Leoni as a divorced pair working in the entertainment industry who work together once more for perhaps old times sake or retribution. Val Waxman (Woody Allen) is an Oscar-winning director whose reputation for being difficult having preceded him resulting in his lull in offers for work. Ellie (Téa Leoni) divorced Val 10-years prior after leaving him for a studio head whom she currently works with. Despite their past, Ellie believes that Val is the perfect director for a $60 million project "The City that Never Sleeps". Val has "the city of New York in his D.N.A. and goes to bat for him being considered as the director for the project. Against all odds, Val gets the job despite his dismay that his ex-wife is the one that was pushing for him so intently. The stress of a big film project, working with his ex-wife, and the troubled relationship with his son has resulted in a psycho-sematic case of blindness. Unable to see, Val and those closest to him create an elaborate ruse to hide that fact from the studio heads long enough for him to finish the film. Once Ellie finds out, Val expects her to out him to her studio executive boyfriend immediately, instead, she helps him hide his temporary blindness and the two rekindle their relationship.It's hard to believe one of the greatest American screenwriters is responsible for such a trope as Hollywood Ending. The script was clever in parts but overall suffered from poor pacing and a storyline which left little to engage with. The scene in which Woody was giving his side of an argument with Ellie to be interrupted by the man at the next table was reminiscent of Annie Hall in a beautiful way. Hollywood Ending was tough to get through and may have suffered a bit from being part of my Woody Allen retrospective project. The film probably isn't as bad on its own but watching it against several other Woody Allen films where it seemed like the director never missed left me thoroughly underwhelmed by it.

TheLittleSongbird As said before, Woody Allen is a very acquired taste. To me he has made a lot of great films, a handful of masterpieces and while there have been some disappointments, while there are films of his yet to see, none of them have been terrible. Hollywood Ending has often been considered lesser Allen, and while it is not a masterpiece in any shape or form(like Annie Hall, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdeameanours, Hannah and Her Sisters, Husbands and Wives and Purple Rose of Cairo, Zelig is also very close to being one) and does fall short of great it is not among the bottom(so far What's Up Tiger Lily, To Rome with Love, Celebrity, Anything Else and Cassandra's Dream, although all of them had a fair share of redeeming qualities). Hollywood Ending is imperfect, the blindness joke has been much criticised and I have to agree, it is a joke so stretched out it becomes very tiring, the pacing as a result in the last act lost momentum and credibility went out the window. Much more could have been done with the subplot and relationship of Allen's character and his son, it was pretty much in the background and like a secondary subplot and it was a subplot that if more prominent could have given the film more heart and it would have made their relationship more interesting, in the end it felt under-baked. On the other hand, Hollywood Ending as always with Allen is very well-directed and looks fabulous with cinematography that is colourful and dreamlike. Hollywood Ending aside from the blindness joke is a very entertaining film, the one-liners are just delicious, Val has the best lines and they are just hilarious, and the gags are very characteristic of Allen and are well-engineered. As ever with Woody Allen, the film also has a lot to say about various subjects and explores them in an insightful and sometimes self-mocking way(that is sometimes and understandably considered self-indulgence). The story up till the last act has relationships and issues that we can identify with strongly, is well-paced and there is plenty of compelling story-telling. Hollywood Ending is expertly played with the best performance coming from Tea Leoni, who is immensely charming with very easy comic timing, closely followed by Woody Allen himself, who makes the most of his lines and delivers them in a way that makes them even funnier. Treat Williams is always a joy and Debra Messing looks as though she's enjoying herself. Admittedly some of the cast should have had more to work with, such as George Hamilton, but they are no less impressive. On the whole, Hollywood Ending has its flaws and Allen has done better work but it is an entertaining film in a lot of ways. 7/10 Bethany Cox

MoreThanAFan i was not expecting to enjoy this film because everyone i have ever asked what they think of Woody Allens films, has saif that they hate them!Until i saw this, the only other Allen film i have seen is Whatever Works (2009).. Which i only watched because it starred Larry David... And i didn't really pay much attention to the film so much as i was focused more on Larry's performance.So i sat down to watch Hollywood Ending just to see why everyone seems to be so "Anti- Allen"Anyway, long story short = i loved it!Great story, shown in an interesting way. I love the warm lighting and the long takes.I wasn't a fan of the score, but hey.. you can't have everything!But i am glad i watched it, and i look forward to watching more of Allens films in the near future.

FilmCriticLalitRao The mark of a good comedy is that audiences must get a healthy dose of Buster Keaton kind of humor.If that is not the case,a film must not be considered a good example of a classic of comedy genre.Woody Allen surely knows how to make films as he has made films which have become an integral part of American cultural landscape.However,it can be said that his magic has not at all worked wonders with "Hollywood Ending",a strange film which was chosen to open Cannes International Film festival 2002.The trouble with "Hollywood Ending" is that one does not know what Woody Allen is trying to portray.The comedy parts are very much dramatic in nature and laughs are few and far between.This is due to the fact that at surface level his film looks like a product of American culture but on deep introspection one finds that Woody Allen has made a film that not only takes American cinema for a ride but also lampoons Hollywood.This is something which was not accepted by audiences all over the world.French people are the only cinema audiences who appreciate such kind of cinema. This is the reason why such a flop American film has been lapped up by Gallic audiences.