He Who Laughs First at Whatever Works Trailer Laughs Loudest

Woody Allen's latest, Whatever Works, had already stumbled out of the gate at the Summer Marketing Derby before its first trailer was introduced today. Sadly, this latest injury might be the one that sends it off to pasture for good.

Or maybe this is the reverse of something like Observe and Report, whose own trailer so ruthlessly fed the entirety of its good jokes into one classic, concentrated red-band burst. Maybe Whatever Works actually withheld the good riffs between Allen surrogate Larry David and Southern belle Evan Rachel Wood, who appears to David one night in a nubile, serendipitous vision of homelessness. Their rapport here, well, isn't. Nor do Patricia Clarkson and Ed Begley Jr. enhance the chemistry as Wood's estranged parents, who show up at David's door with baggage packing more stereotypes than clothes.

As Allen stand-ins go, David is ideal on paper, and he might even be ideal in the film (early reviews are mixed). Still, the jokes here are too on-the-nose for Allen fans and too benign for Curb Your Enthusiasm viewers; in attempting to sell you Whatever Works, these two minutes simply take the men's similarities for granted. Or, more simply, they don't care what you think. And you do know what you think: If curmudgeonly hypochondria is the coin of this particular realm, why isn't Woody Allen just acting himself? Is it too much to ask that his retreads be rendered with at least some sincerity?

VERDICT: For completists only.