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Allen plays a director whose career has hit rock bottom. His former wife (Téa Leoni), now married to a greedy studio head (Treat Williams), gives him a last chance to direct a big picture. Unfortunately he goes blind; and that will seriously jeopardize the quality of his movie and his return under the spotlight. The picture is fun to watch and certainly features—as usual—some good lines that provide for some good laughs. However some of the jokes are repeated and after awhile they tend to give the feeling that Allen wasn't inspired much. The usual antics are here, from the New York settings to the young and beautiful women falling for him. The story is obviously self-mocking. While it is doubtful he will ever end up shooting deodorant commercials in Canada, the shot he dares to take at his favorite audience—the French—is the ultimate "pied de nez". But when it comes to making a satire of the business, the film never goes under the surface of the typical clichés of the genre. L.A. people are artificial while New Yorkers are artsy. There is the greedy studio head, the shallow producer, the agent you can count on, the actress who wants to sleep with director, the actress who does sleep with the director and the sneaky and mean gossip columnist. Allen also makes fun of filmmakers who pretend to be artists and act like prima donnas. Whatever side of the business he is criticizing, he never brings anything new enough to justify the purpose of his film. The script isn't very convincing since you never know the causes of his illness while the subplot about the relationship with his son comes much too late. Téa Leoni is the only gem shining in this uneven cast that features Treat Williams (??), Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, the always tan George Hamilton, and the funny but over the top Debra Messing. Allen applies the Hollywood ending to his own film. To make it look like the art of the Great American director, he should probably have used the shaky cameras, confused narrative and bad acting that the French love so much.
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