EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU

SYNOPSIS:
This is a musical comedy about a group of people who live in New York but travel to Paris and Venice whenever possible. Joe (Woody Allen) is a divorced, middle-aged man who laments over his failures with women. When his daughter, DJ (Natasha Lyonne), visits him in Europe, she tries to get him interested in Von (Julia Roberts), an unhappily married woman in therapy. Back in the States, DJ's mother, Steffi (Goldie Hawn), and stepfather Bob (Alan Alda) are involved in liberal causes, which infuriates their son Scott (Lukas Haas), the only Republican in the family. Things get crazy when Steffi invites released convict Charles Ferry (Tim Roth) to her birthday party and daughter Skylar (Drew Barrymore), who's engaged to Holden (Edward Norton), falls for the ex-con. Younger daughters Laura (Natalie Portman) and Lane (Gaby Hoffman) compete for the affections of one boy, while back in Paris Joe makes his move on Von.

"I couldn’t help thinking while watching this film that it is right up Stephan Elliott’s street. Steph has said on more than one occasion that his favourite movies are musicals, the more characters bursting into song in surreal situations the better. Steph’s own Priscilla had that approach to a couple of musical items, the aria atop the bus being perhaps the most memorable. Woody Allen has created several such memorable moments in Everyone Says I Love You, with the kind of youthful irreverence you might find surprising in a balding, middle aged, neurotic and publicly scolded man. Somehow, I even began to believe that he and Goldie could have been an item…yeah, it’s that kind of effect the film has. Entertainment with excess. The cast is superb, of course, and they all get to showcase their talents. Even famed violinist Itzhak Perlman makes a cameo, playing violin as himself in a duet with daughter Navah. The title takes on a new meaning, by the way, one of those pleasant discoveries that abound all the way through. And the use of digital effects is remarkably good humoured in the scene with ghosts dancing, so you can be assured this is a film to lift your spirits."
Andrew L. Urban

"Woody Allen incorporates his usual sharp wit and keen observation of life with a zesty script that bewitches and transports us into thinking man’s paradise. It’s a trip into a golden fantasy world where our sense of humour is always intact, and our weaknesses are amusing. Allen maximises the effectiveness of ‘the musical’ by suspending reality at romantic moments and encouraging our imagination to soar into a surreal and compelling fantasy trip. This technique is used to maximum effect, and never more so than at old grandad’s funeral, when the departed (in ghostly form) jumps out of his coffin and bursts into song. And who could forget the memorable moonlight dance by the banks of the Seine with Woody Allen and Goldie Hawn; she leaping into the air - and staying there. An extravagant orchestra boasting a substantial string section of over 40 carries and cues our emotions. As to-be-expected, the ensemble cast is superb, with Goldie Hawn shining especially brightly, lending substance and depth to her exuberant and zany character. Hawn’s casting opposite Allen’s familiar, neurotic, middle-aged wimp is inspired. Allen’s three favourite cities are used as locations - and they are filmed to show their romance, magic and beauty. Allen at his best."
Louise Keller

"Woody Allen’s latest gem takes the movie musical to new heights in a glorious and unashamedly romantic and irreverent comedy that is both bold in its writing and performance. Allen has always utilised music, of the old fashioned variety, to add colour and movement to his work, but with this film, he has taken all this one step further to create a hypnotic and dazzling pastiche of music, snappy humour and old fashioned but not corny, romance. The film does have the usual Allen trappings, his varying obsessions with love, divorce, sex and philosophy, all interwoven into a richer, tighter framework than the writer/director usually delivers. While the use of solidly mainstream actors as singers can be dangerous (Woody’s own singing abilities are questionable), the risks, for the most part, pay off, and since the music fits in so nicely with the film’s heavily plotted romantic package, the final result is an effortless and genuinely charming and optimistic work. His ensemble cast is uniformly sublime, even Roberts is in her element here, and Norton continues to emerge as a major revelation. The final sequence featuring Allen and the wonderful Hawn dancing in mid-air, is cinema at its most magical and haunting. But then this is one of many moments to be savoured in a film that reminds us what the movies once used to represent."
Paul Fischer

"Everyone Says I Love You is the filmmaker’s tip of the hat to movie romance, 1930s musicals and modern neurosis. It’s a cinematic oxymoron - complex, bold and audacious and simultaneously simple, guileless and sublime. This is that rare Allen outing that transcends his cosy niche and plays to the masses. The combination of screen smarts and a heartwarming, humorous tale should garner both a fistful of honors and provide him with his biggest hit since Hannah and Her Sisters. [It] finds Allen in top form as a master farceur, juggling a variety of comic styles, real and fanciful narratives and honing his visual acumen to a keen edge in a work of unfettered sagacity."
Leonard Klady, Variety