The twin forces of the American legal system and public opinion did in Woody Allen's career for a while.
After his then lover Mia Farrow discovered he was having an intimate affair with one of her adopted children, those forces were put in play. In 1993, there was a high profile custody trial related to Allen's three children, one biological, two adopted. The public turned against this funnyman.
As many troubled lawyers know, work is often the glue that holds one together. Allen's work lost his audience and his best directing seemed behind him. The only issue which seemed to remain was how his portfolio of work would be regarded by future generations. Would the taint of the court battle and the sandbagging by public opinion destroy Allen's legacy?
In his new film "To Rome With Love" Allen seems to have recovered his audience and his talent. The lesson here is that comeback can be in the cards. Just keep in the game. There is also encouragement that lawyers can provide their tarnished clients. They can give them hope that comebacks are possible and maybe even probable.
Last night, the movie theatre in New Haven, Connecticut was packed with mostly us Baby Boomers. Heat hung over the area and we wanted to escape through entertainment. Also, we seemed to be curious to check out if Allen could make us laugh again and if he, in his late 70s, was capable of producing new tricks. Our findings were worth the price of admission.
Allen was funny again. The plot seamlessly centered around a number of couples - young, middle aged, and old - who found or reinforced love in the eternal city of Rome. Brilliantly he pieced together fantasy material such as being made suddenly famous and then a nobody again. The imagination and the acting were right up there with "The Artist." A compelling bit of inventiveness was having the opera singer perform on stage in the shower.
Some old tricks seemed old. Allen is fondof the Greek Chorus technique and that was there. Maybe it shouldn't have been. Also, save us from psychiatrists but one was still in the film. A focus on psychiatric medication might have had more reach.
The obvious news for lawyers whose careers are stuck is that, after suffering, professionals can not only return but with new tricks up their sleeves.
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