Return to tiff.’s home page

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Woody Allen

  • Country: United Kingdom, USA, Spain
  • Year: 2009
  • Language: English
  • Producer: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Jaume Roures
  • Executive Producer: Javier Méndez
  • Screenplay: Woody Allen
  • Runtime: 98
  • Programmes:

Woody Allen's latest comic ensemble piece follows a group of Londoners struggling with failing marriages, restless libidos, the perils of aging and desires that drive a series of decisions with unforeseen consequences. The film stars Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Lucy Punch and Naomi Watts.

Comedy,  Family Relations,  Romance

screening times

    • Sunday September 12
    • 6:00:00 PM
    • VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)
    • Sunday September 19
    • 12:00:00 PM
    • AMC 6

Note: indicates Premium Screening.

official description

London will never supplant Manhattan in Woody Allen’s affections, but it has recently served as the backdrop for some of his strongest films. After the magnificent Match Point, he returns to the same terrain to provide us with another beautifully realized ensemble piece that affectionately skewers the foibles and fears of a group of individuals, each caught up in their own life crises. Amidst the roiling uncertainties of marriages, aging, jobs and children, Allen pulls the rug out from under all of his characters while rearranging the furniture in the room at the same time.

The robust group of characters in You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger range from an aging couple, whose forty-year marriage is about to hit the skids, to their married daughter’s relationship, which is undergoing comparable stresses and strains. Inevitably, there are a couple of pretty young things thrown into the mix as well.

The fragile and wispy Helena (Gemma Jones) takes to visiting a psychic after being abandoned by her husband Alfie (Anthony Hopkins), who has decided to refresh his life by falling madly in love with a buxom blonde decades his junior (Lucy Punch). Their grown daughter, the long-suffering Sally (Naomi Watts), dreams of starting a family and opening her own art gallery, but is stymied by the reality of supporting her self-centred American husband Roy (Josh Brolin), who is busy bashing away at a novel with little success. His eye soon wanders to a beautiful young guitar player (Slumdog Millionaire’s Freida Pinto), with whom he falls madly in love.

This comic concoction moves effortlessly between farce and frolic, with hints of Molière and A Midsummer Night’s Dream sprinkled throughout. Human follies are shown to be ridiculous but understandable, and it is not long before the bloom fades from every rose. Allen’s uncanny ability to send up all of his characters while remaining in love with their every misstep is a marvel to behold.

director bio

Woody Allen was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1966, he launched a prolific career in film by writing, directing and starring in What’s Up, Tiger Lily? He has won three Academy Awards® and has been nominated for eighteen more. His other films include Sleeper (73), Annie Hall (77), Interiors (78), Manhattan (79), Broadway Danny Rose (84), Hannah and Her Sisters (86), Crimes and Misdemeanors (89), Husbands and Wives (92), Bullets Over Broadway (94), Everyone Says I Love You (96), Sweet and Lowdown (99), Match Point (05), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (08), Whatever Works (09) and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (10).

full credits

Principal Cast: Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Lucy Punch, Naomi Watts
Producer: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Jaume Roures
Executive Producer: Javier Méndez
Cinematographer: Vilmos Zsigmond
Editor: Alisa Lepselter
Sound: Peter Glossop
Production Designer: Jim Clay

Canadian Distributor: Mongrel Media  
International Sales Agent: Imagina International Sales
Production Company: Dippermouth Productions, Ltd.
.
Shopping Cart
 

    Share This

    • Digg
    • Share

    Like This

    film stills and media

     
    Pause Slideshow