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Everyone Says I Love You
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Wikipedia article
'Everyone Says I Love You' is a 1996 American musical film written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars Allen, Alan Alda, Drew Barrymore, Goldie Hawn, Edward Norton, Julia Roberts, Tim Roth, Natasha Lyonne and Natalie Portman. Set in New York City, Venice and Paris, it features singing by actors not usually known for musical roles. The film did not do well commercially, but is among the more critically successful of Allen's films, with 'Chicago Sun-Times' critic Roger Ebert even ranking it as one of Allen's best.
Plot
The emotions of an extended upper-class family in Manhattan are followed in songs at New York, Paris and Venice. Various characters act, interact and sing in each cities. They include young lovers Holden and Skylar, Skylar's parents Bob and Steffi, Steffi's ex-husband Joe, Joe and Steffi's daughter Djuna, Von, a lady whom Joe meets, and a recently released prison inmate, Charles Ferry, who is inserted between them, leading to their breakup.
Cast
* Alan Alda as Bob Dandridge
* Woody Allen as Joe Berlin
* Drew Barrymore as Skylar Dandridge (singing voice dubbed by Olivia Hayman)
* Lukas Haas as Scott Dandridge
* Goldie Hawn as Steffi Dandridge
* Gaby Hoffmann as Lane Dandridge
* Natasha Lyonne as Djuna "D.J." Berlin
* Edward Norton as Holden Spence
* Natalie Portman as Laura Dandridge
* Julia Roberts as Von Sidell
* Tim Roth as Charles Ferry
* David Ogden Stiers as Arnold Spence
* Itzhak Perlman as himself
* Edward Hibbert as a Harry Winston Salesman
* Patrick Cranshaw as Grandpa
* Billy Crudup as Ken Risley
* Robert Knepper as Greg
* Scotty Bloch as Lynn Spence
* Isiah Whitlock as Cop
* Kevin Hagan as Doorman
* Navah Perlman as Pianist
* Waltrudis Buck as Psychiatrist
* Christy Carlson Romano as a Trick or Treat Child
* Arlene Martell as a Nurse
* Singers: Helen Miles, Arlene Martell, Emily Bindiger, Cindy Cobitt, Al Dana, Kevin DeSimone, Paul Evans, Chrissy Faith, Jeff Lyons, Michael Mark, Jenna Miles, Robert Ragaini, Lenny Roberts, Annette Sanders, Terry Textor, Vaneese Thomas and Ashley H. Wilkinson
Music
The film uses classic songs for each scenes and in some cases with unexpected dance routines.
# "Just You, Just Me" (Jesse Greer, Raymond Klages) Edward Norton
# "My Baby Just Cares For Me" (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn) Edward Norton/Natasha Lyonne
# "Recurrence/I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All" (Ray Henderson, Lew Brown, B.G. DeSylva) Dick Hyman/Olivia Hayman
# "Makin' Whoopee" (Donaldson, Kahn) Tim Jerome
# "Venetian Scenes/I'm Through With Love" (Kahn, Matt Malneck, Fud Livingston) Dick Hyman/Woody Allen
# "All My Life" (Sam Stept, Sidney Mitchell) Julia Roberts
# "Just You, Just Me" (Salsa Version) (Greer, Klages) Dick Hyman and the New York Studio Players
# "Cuddle Up a Little Closer" (Karl Hoschna, Otto Harbach) Billy Crudup/Sanjeev Ramabhadran
# "Looking at You" (Cole Porter) Alan Alda
# "Recurrence/If I Had You" (Ted Shapiro, Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly) Dick Hyman/Tim Roth
# "Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)" (Carl Sigman, Herb Magidson) Patrick Crenshaw
# "Chiquita Banana" (Leonard McKenzie, Garth Montgomery, William Wirges) Christy Carlson Romano
# "Hooray for Captain Spaulding/Vive Le Capitaine Spaulding" (Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Philippe Videcoq) The Helen Miles Singers
# "I'm Through with Love" (Kahn, Malneck, Livingston) Goldie Hawn/Edward Norton
# "Everyone Says I Love You" (Kalmar, Ruby) The Helen Miles Singers
Most of the performers sing in their own voices, with two exceptions: Goldie Hawn, who was told by Allen to intentionally sing worse because she sang too well to be believable as a normal person just breaking into song, and Drew Barrymore, who convinced Allen that her singing was too awful even for the "realistic singing voice" concept he was going for. Her voice was dubbed by Olivia Hayman.
The title song was written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, and was used as a recurring theme song in the Marx Brothers movie 'Horse Feathers' (1932). Allen is a well-known Groucho Marx fan. Marx's theme song from 'Animal Crackers' (1930) "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" is featured, sung in French by a chorus of Groucho Marxes. Songs, film score and subsequent album recorded, mixed, and co-produced with Dick Hyman by Roy Yokelson.
Release
Box office
The film was released in North America on December 8, 1996 on three screens. Its opening weekend gross was $131,678 ($43,892 per screen). It ended with the run with $9,759,200.Critical reception
The film was well received. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 77% "fresh" rating, based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's consensus states: "A likable, infectious musical, Woody Allen's 'Everyone Says I Love You' is sometimes uneven but always toe-tapping and fun." Janet Maslin wrote a strongly positive review in the 'New York Times', describing the film as "a delightful and witty compendium of the film maker's favorite things.""When Everyone Sings, Just for the Joy of It", Janet Maslin, 'The New York Times', December 6, 1996. Among the film's strongest detractors was Jonathan Rosenbaum, who described it as "creepy" and claimed "this characterless world of Manhattan-Venice-Paris, where love consists only of self-validation, and political convictions of any kind are attributable to either hypocrisy or a brain condition, the me-first nihilism of Allen's frightened worldview is finally given full exposure, and it's a grisly thing to behold."Awards
The film was nominated for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the 54th Golden Globe Awards.
References
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