Unlikely Movie, unlikely review.

Watched "Hollywood Ending" yesterday. Yes, another one of those Woody Allen movies, where he plays another one of those confused, nervous wreaks - something that he has made a living, and some might say legend, out of.

First glance intrigues. What with Debra Messing(in a juvenile role as Allen's passing love interest and struggling, talentless actress) and the quite beautiful Téa Leoni as the estranged wife. Ellie (Leoni) is Allen's now-divorced wife, who is all set to get engaged to a high-flying movie production executive Ed (George Hamilton). Allen's character is a genius-crazy movie director, who has fallen on bad days.

As fate would have it, Ellie convinces Ed to give the director one last chance to redeem himself, and Ed, not wanting to displease his soon-to-be wife relents. Val (Allen) quite delighted, takes up the assignment with great vigour and excitement. But much to his dismay, the extreme emotion of the situation has so overwhelmed him, that he suddenly turns blind. Not permanently, as he understands - but partly - a type of "psychosomatic blindness". But afraid that his last chance to save his floundering career would slip by, he decides to direct the movie blind - first with the help of a translator working on the set - and later with Ellie. It is during this later period - that the previous chemistry is rekindled, and Ellie finds herself drawn towards the wayward genius again.

Meanwhile the film itself is quite atrocious - but everyone trusting the director to "put it all together", keep quiet, not knowing that the movie is in fact being made by someone who cannot see. Ellie too, plays along - knowing that any disclosure on her part would lead to the destruction of Val's career. Of course, once the initial shooting is over, Allen regains his vision - and wonders how the utterly spoiled film is to be edited. He eventually churns out a film - which is of course panned by audiences and critics alike, but which to his great surprise is lapped up by the French audiences, paving the way for a successful European run.

Of course the film is semi-autobiographical, farcical and facetious. References to Allen's relatively stronger fan-base in France - and a jab at the film industry in general. The overall joke, "even a blind man can make a film" - packs a punch, but fortunately is not drilled through - just draping the background amongst an flurry of supplementary and sometimes downright irrelevant action.

Allen is brilliant as usuan Tea Leoni does a decent job, and Debra Messing shows glimpses of the timing she shows in Will & Grace. Yes, we've seen the semi-autobiographical, nervous, dibbly-dabbly Allen before - but frankly, I would love seeing him a million times more. It's just plain fun - and despite being, if looked at in a certain way, a "get-back-at-you" film, its hardly hard-hitting, the whole point lost in a fog of good-old Allen one-liners and mindless soliloquy.

Watch it, I say nevertheless - especially if you haven't watched an Allen before. It's all good ;-)