Alas, once it becomes clear that this farfetched joke–the director is blind!–is “Hollywood Ending’s” central conceit, Allen’s promising satire starts to go awry. Val’s laborious attempts to keep his secret–only his agent (Mark Rydell) and his Chinese cinematographer’s translator (Barney Cheng) know the truth–play out with-out a shred of credibility, even by farcical standards. That’s not the only problem. You know a romantic comedy is in trouble when you root for the hero not to get the girl. What does the bright Ellie–played by Leoni with the crisp vibrancy of a good Chardonnay–see in the tedious, petulant Val? You find yourself thinking the unthinkable–that she’s better off in the arms of the philistine, villainous studio chief.
Hollywood EndingDreamWorks Open
