Woody Allen experienced his third creative renaissance whilst partnering with Miramax in the 1990s, so perhaps it’s a good omen that his latest picture, Cassandra’s Dream, will, according to Variety‘s Anne Thompson, get rolled out by The Weinstein Company. Or maybe it just means that Harvey outbid everyone else gambling that he’s got the next Match Point instead of Another Scoop.
Woody’s thirty-sixth feature stars Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as financially struggling brothers who are seduced into a life of crime. This is apparently Woody in full-on serious mode, which used to be a bad sign (sorry, but I get nothing out of his unleavened-by-humor Bergman exercises), but now might augur brilliance (if he continues to mine Dreiser as he did with the beautifully constructed Match Point). Though I thought Scoop was his best comedy since Small Time Crooks, it was also about as good as Small Time Crooks (absent anything as special as Elaine May’s performance). He’s still a phenomenally funny essayist, but his comedic films have been off to varying degrees since the sublime Bullets Over Broadway, so go with drama, Woody, if that’s what’s keeping you engaged creatively.
Cassandra’s Dream will also be Woody’s third straight film shot in England. The great Tom Wilkinson will co-star. As it sounds like the movie will bow at this year’s Venice Film Festival, expect a November release if it’s well-received, and a winter 2008 dump if the reviews are mixed.