Product Description

A has-been filmmaker is hired to direct his ex-wife whos now dating the studio boss. But when he arrives on the set he develops a case of psychosomatic blindness. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/24/2005 Starring: Woody Allen Treat Williams Run time: 114 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Woody Allen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60034 in DVD
• Brand: Hollywood
• Released on: 2002-09-17
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 112 minutes

Amazon.com
With Hollywood Ending, Woody Allen good-naturedly bites the hand that feeds him. The modern studio system is a ripe target for Allen’s rapier wit, but the veteran writer-director goes a delicious step further by playing a has-been filmmaker who suffers from psychosomatic blindness--during the production of his big-budget comeback! Rather than sabotage his career, he proceeds to direct the film with guidance from his Chinese cinematographer’s translator, telling his agent (played by another veteran director, Mark Rydell) while hiding the truth from his ex-wife and producer (Téa Leoni), her studio honcho husband (Treat Williams), and his ditzy actress girlfriend (Debra Messing), who has a small role in the film. Chaos ensues--and so does Allen’s predilection for casting much-younger female costars--but Hollywood Ending favors a more contemplative blend of comedy and drama, peppered with memorable punch lines and blessed with, yes, a Hollywood ending that’s as entertaining as the mayhem that precedes it. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Woody Allen casts himself as the washed-up movie director Val Waxman, a real pain in the neck. Téa Leoni, she of the puckered mouth and long, lean body (here draped in cashmere), is his ex-wife, Ellie, who prevails on her current boyfriend-a smoothly dominating studio boss (Treat Williams)-to give Val one last chance at a big-budget picture. As the shoot begins, Val is afflicted by hysterical blindness, and various people serve as seeing-eye dogs, though no one on the set notices he's sightless. The movie is a farce, of course, but it's still awkwardly literal. A conceit that might have worked in a Chaplin two-reeler nearly destroys a full-length feature, and the pairing of the older Allen and the exquisite Leoni is embarrassing. With George Hamilton as a curious studio personage who is always present, golf club in hand, to spy on the creative people and intimidate everyone with his perfect tan. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Has some very funny moments.
What a relief to finally see an intelligent comedy without any gross scenes! Of late, comedies have been more and more gross, thanks mainly to the sickening trend set by movies like 'There is something about Mary'. Woody Allen deserves credit for giving us 'Hollywood ending', a film that has some very funny moments.

Woody Allen plays a washed-out film director, whose wife (played by Tea Leoni) has left him for a film producer (Treat Williams). Then this script comes into the hands of Treat Williams and his film company ('Galaxie films') and Tea Leoni thinks that Allen will be the best choice to direct it. She convinces Williams and his friends and then the laugh riot starts! Allen meets his ex-wife and the decision makers of Galaxie films and seals the deal (with some very funny scenes!). Come the first day of shooting and Woody Allen becomes blind (psychosomatic blindness). The rest of the story revolves around how he (with Tea Leoni's help) keeps his blindness a secret from everyone else and manages to direct the film.

Woody Allen is very very funny and steals many a scene, with the best one being the one in which he meets Tea Leoni at a restaurant after he lands the directing job. Leoni supports him very well and Debra Messing ('Will and Grace') plays Allen's new (and not so bright) girlfriend. All the supporting actors are good, with the Chinese cameraman and his translator being the pick of the lot.

Needless to say, the film directed by the blind Woody Allen gets horrible reviews initially, but then there is a twist in the climax that justifies the title - 'Hollywood ending'. The funny moments keep the film up and running and in the end, this is surely worth watching at least once.

A comedy about Woody Allen - Hollywood beginning

Woody Allen's deliberate but successful attempt to make a joke on himself. Even non Woody Allen fans like me can get it. Woody Allen was Val Waxman, a director at a low point of his career. Ellie (Tea Leoni) was his ex-wife who left him for the studio head Hal Jaeger. Out of her faith in Val, Ellie went out of her way to convince the studio to let Val direct a 60-million budget A-class film in New York - Val's specialty (first similarity). This was to be a comeback (second similarity) Val much needed.

The first half had a little bit too much talk with Val constant wining about Ellie's abandoning him 10 years ago. Yet once Val actually started to direct the film, an insurmountable obstacle came up. The movie immediately took a comic turn and became highly watchable. Debra Messing and Geroge Hamilton also appeared.

Tea Leoni, as a down-to-earth film producer was practical and Woody Allen must be credited for not asking her to portray a love struck romantic falling for the great and talented director. Throughout the film, she was more to him a loyal friend which was utterly convincing.

The story wrapped up neatly and headed for an unexpected ending - both hilarious and truly romantic. His reunion with his son is fun to watch. Some dialogues were memorable. "Inertia kept two-thirds of the marriages and love kept one-third." "This's really the work of a blind man" "Husbands should all be blind for some time." The joke on the French was actually quite bold (Afterall they have been Woody's steadfast supporters) and kept me laughing for some time. And the icing on the cake was a touch of romance and relationship in the end.

This was actually Woody Allen's self-reflection (as perceived by Hollywood studios) projected on the director Val Waxman - his style (more individualistic and nervous), his work (arty rather than mainstream) and his audience (more European than Hollywood). By stating his profile in the past, it is as if Woody Allen is ready to take a more proactive and commercial approach. By making a Hollywood film to tell of his "unHollywood" traits, this seems more like a Hollywood beginning for him - Match Point (good film) and Scoop are movies made for Hollywood. Woody Allen is reaching out for a broader base.

Witty self referential and funny
I like Woody, I like this film, and I like his love of film. Mr Allen's love of human beings, his compassion and understanding of our foibles, vanities, and his own foibles and vanities, shine through this fine film. I also like his truth - in some ways he his almost anti-Hollywood in the sense that he does not try to cover up his physical deterioration, as if to say " Well, he I am and here you are, and are we going to make the journey with a joke or a whine?" To me, despite the jokes in the film about his character and being a great artist, I think he is one of America's great film makers, and a great humanitarian, with a deep understanding of his art, comedy and us. This is a good example of his work and worth owning.