Everyone Says I Love You -

Woody Allen’s latest film is a musical romantic comedy that should appeal to fans of the genre. It overlays a traditional Allen film with song and dance numbers of early 20th century standards. The film is narrated by DJ (Natasha Lyonne), the daughter of Joe (Woody Allen) and Steffi (Goldie Hawn), who are now divorced. Joe lives in Paris, and still searches for love. Steffi has married Bob (Alan Alda), and has four other kids: Skylar (Drew Barrymore) – soon to wed Holden (Edward Norton), Scott (Lukas Haas) – a conservative republican in a sea of liberal democrats, Lane (Gaby Hoffman), and Laura (Natalie Portman). Anyway, everyone is looking for love, and singing about it. Woody Allen stages the musical numbers in lighthearted tribute. Not all the actors can sing or dance well, but they all express the right feeling. Woody pokes fun at the musical genre, as well as paying homage to it, by setting song-and-dance numbers inside a hospital ward, funeral home and other unusual locales. The humor throughout Everyone Says I Love You is light, but insightful. The film keeps you smiling throughout. People whose stomachs turn at the mere thought of a musical probably should avoid the theater, but, even if you’re not a diehard fan of the genre, you’ll probably get several good kicks out of Woody Allen’s latest.