Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Hollywood Ending which is Woody Allen's 33th movie was released in 2002. This comedy featuring Woody Allen himself in the role of Val Waxman, Tea Leoni and George Hamilton takes place in Allen's favorite set : New York. Val Waxman, an underestimated movie director, receives a proposal out of the blue to direct a big budget movie from his formal wife's new boyfriend : Ed (G. Hamilton). Val's agent forces him to accept the project when he is suddenly reached by a psychosomatic disease that makes him blind. I totally loved this gripping and entertaining comedy ! Once again Allen made us cry laughing with his impressive scenario. His acting was brilliant as usual thanks to his body language that emphasize the seriousness of the disease which is funny of course. Woody Allen's genius to create misunderstandings, like the scene where he thinks his talking to someone when he is actually talking to an empty space, is a talent that I really appreciate. I would recommend this movie to everyone specially people who wants to laugh a lot ! By the way I have never been disappointed by any of Allen's movies.

I admit to being a big Woody Allen fan; when I was in college, I went to a Woody Allen movie - Play it Again, Sam - and all around me, people were laughing like hyenas. I had no idea what was funny. Now I don't know how I ever thought that."Hollywood Ending" is a 2002 film from the prolific Allen, and he gives it to Hollywood but good. He plays a neurotic, hypochondriacal film director named Val who can't get arrested thanks to being so difficult. But in a conference about a film, The City that Never Sleeps, his ex-wife Ellie (Tea Leoni), in charge of development, is positive that he would be the best man for the job. She is shot down by everyone, including her current producer boyfriend Yeager (Treat Williams) but she manages to convince him to at least meet with Val.Val loathes Yeager and he doesn't want to have anything to do with him or Ellie but he's just come home from a Canadian winter shoot for a deodorant commercial, from which he was fired, and he's desperate. His long-suffering agent Al (Mark Rydell) gets him the deal, and Val is hired.The night before the shoot, Val calls Al, in the middle of a Seder, and demands he come over. He's blind. Al gets him to a doctor but there's nothing wrong with Val's eyes. He can't lose the job, so Al goes with him to the set, but is thrown out by Ed (George Hamilton). Al suggests that he find a confidant who can see him through the film. Since Val has demanded a Chinese cameraman who doesn't speak English, the translator needs to be around, so he helps Val out. But Val is going to need a lot more help than the translator.I found the premise and the whole movie quite funny, with some great dialogue and good acting from everyone, including Debra Messing, who plays Val's current bimbo girlfriend, whom he casts in the film.The movie would have been better if Allen had actually attempted to cover up the fact that Val is blind rather than acting just like a blind man. The fact that no one noticed is ridiculous. When someone speaks to him, he looks the opposite way, and he stares straight ahead, and he needs help walking.All in all, I really enjoyed it. It's not his best; it's not his worst. Some very funny scenes and filled with wit.

There are certain Woody Allen movies that I don't fully appreciate- I don't like when he films in black and white and I'm not a big fan of slapstick comedy. The movies I prefer are the witty, dialogue rich, relationship based, contemporary feasts. I also prefer Allen to star in his own movies, mostly because when he doesn't, the lead character tends to be doing an imitation of Allen. This film, although I wouldn't give it a ten out of ten, certainly featured all of these ingredients.Once again Allen has surrounded himself with an amazing cast of actors who aren't nobodies, but aren't quite superstars. I don't know if he chooses actors based on chemistry, or if that is something that just comes together when one is working for him. Whatever it is, it is on full display throughout Hollywood Ending.Allen, as usual, plays a neurotic, under-appreciated, genius (called Val) with a knack for speech. He's a genuine artist who has been fired one too many times and is therefore stuck working on commercials and other lowbrow jobs. He has a live in girlfriend, an actress played by Debra Messing, who is pretty much just around because Val doesn't like to sleep alone. After getting fired from his last big picture, he is dumped by his then wife, Ellie (Tia Leoni) for the head of a studio, Hal (Treat Williams).As Val is stuck in Canada filming a commercial (that he eventually gets fired from), Ellie is in Hollywood with her new Hal, trying to get him to use Val to direct their newest film. Everyone in attendance agrees that Val is a great director, but no one wants to hire him because of his mental problems. Finally Ellie convinces to Hal to give Val a chance and things begin to look up.The night before filming is about to begin, Val makes an emergency call to Al (Mark Rydell) because he (Val) has suddenly gone blind. Trips to the doctor reveal that there is no brain tumor (as Val had obviously expected), nor are there problems with his eyes. Instead, as his analyst (of course, it is a Woody Allen movie) explains, it is completely psycho-somatic. Pressured by Al, Val decides to not tell anyone else and attempt to direct the movie anyway.Mayhem obviously ensues, as it's never easy to direct a movie without the use of the eyes. Al agrees to be Val's guide, but on the first day is told that he is not allowed to be on the set. Eventually, after many hilarious incidences, the movie gets made.Although the movie comes out horrible and Val is ultimately discovered, happiness does prevail. Life doesn't often have happy endings, so when one happens in a film it tends to feel forced or corny. Not with Woody Allen; maybe it's because so many of his movies do not end sad, or because even some of the films that end happy are also sad, but Mr. Allen sure knows how to make a happy ending out of a mess.Overall, there have been better Woody Allen films and there have been worse. I would rank Hollywood Ending somewhere near the top of his list though. It never ceases to amaze me how Allen has written and directed over 70 films, many of which have the same general plot, and yet he never seems to lose his freshness.

For Woody Allen fans - this is one of the last ones with him acting so it is worth a watch. Unfortunately it's one of his weaker pictures. There are some laugh out loud moments esp his scene with Tea Leoni in the bar. The hypochondria isn't that funny. The main premise is interesting psychosomatic blindness but wears thin after a while. The supporting cast is not well utilized. Everyone is made to talk in that Woody Allen way. Tiffany Thiessen has such a small part. George Hamilton just a few lines. The Chinese cameraman and interpreter are quite funny at first. But overall it still is worth a watch for the pleasant neat storyline and the laughs in between. Just isn't that funny after all.