Woody Allen's latest movie, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER is filled with good bits, fine moments of acting and wonderful cinematography. The story, an off-the-point series of musing about how truth does not make you happy, but hope and delusion do, might have been handled as more than a series of vignettes, linked by the people surrounding a divorced couple played by Gemma Jones and Anthony Hopkins, but it is not. As a result, what might have been a crackling nasty satire is more of a murky, drizzly minor-key tragedy, as everyone finds themselves miserable except for the crazy lady.

Despite this, and despite the fact that this movie could have been set any place without any effect on the performances, there are some wonderful scenes and moments. Hopkins, shorn of tics and erratically maintained accents, gives a simple, wonderful performance, perhaps his best in years, and Naomi Watts and Antonio Banderas play their scenes where they talk past each other very well. Only Josh Brolin seems to be miscast or misdirected -- however that may simply due to the fact that I have never really warmed to him as a performer, so that might be just me.

But the scenes don't really add up to much of anything. I begin to suspect that Woody Allen has reached that stage in his career when he has his skills fully under control and can tell any story he wishes to tell perfectly -- but has run out of stories that he wishes to tell, major points that he wishes to make, genres that he wishes to master. All that is left is to put together these meditations and hope that they add up to more than the sum of their parts.

Alas, despite many lovely parts, this one doesn't. I expect that, like me, most viewers will enjoy this movie and then, when they leave the theater, wish there was more.

Of the 27 films seen so far from Woody Allen, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger was for me one of the weaker ones, but it's far from a bad film. In fact, I don't consider any of Allen's lesser films "bad", if anything so far they're more mediocre to mixed feelings. There are good things to be had, because You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is a well made film, colourful and picturesque. The music suits the film beautifully, with the clarinet tune so catchy it'd make for a good ring-tone. There are a few amusing moments here and there, namely with Lucy Punch and apart from a wooden Josh Brolin and a lack of chemistry between him and Freida Pinto the cast are great. In particular Lucy Punch who is a breath of fresh air, Anthony Hopkins in a world-weary kind of role that is understatedly and movingly played and Gemma Jones who is sympathetic and funny. Antonio Banderas is also surprisingly subtle, Naomi Watts is also highly commendable and Freida Pinto brings sexiness to the film. Unfortunately they did deserve better to work with, because the script is far too predictable and hollow with not enough of Allen's sharp insight or witty humour coming through and the story while complicated suffers from too many sub-plots and not enough time to develop or explore them, the scenarios have been done with Allen quite a number of times before and so much better than here. The characters are not that interesting as a result of how the story was done and are so broadly drawn that it is difficult to engage with them or what happens to them. The ending is also far too rushed and feels very unfinished and the narration was unnecessary and irritated rather than amused or thought-provoked. Overall, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is not as bad as some have said it to be but for Allen and considering the calibre of the actors it could and should have been much better. 5/10 Bethany Cox

In London, Helena (Gemma Jones) goes to see fortune teller Cristal (Pauline Collins) after she is abandoned by her husband Alfie (Anthony Hopkins). He shocks everyone by announcing his engagement to the much younger Charmaine (Lucy Punch) after hiring her as a prostitute. The couple's daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) sacrificed her ambitions to support her husband Roy (Josh Brolin) who stopped publishing after a successful first book. He's interested in next door neighbor Dia (Freida Pinto) and finishes his second book. Sally falls for her art gallery boss Greg (Antonio Banderas).

This is a cast of mostly great actors playing run-of-the-mill Woody Allen characters. The only bad performance comes from the wooden Freida Pinto. The story isn't anything special. It's reminiscent of other Woody Allen movies without exceeding them.