To Woody With Love: Woody Allen’s 9 Most Entertaining On-Screen Surrogates

Will Ferrell, Melinda and Melinda
Allen’s comedic appeal obviously lies in his perfected delivery of zingers, but he has made some excursions into physical comedy – notably in Sleeper. That element of physical comedy returned in Melinda and Melinda, with Will Ferrell adding a slapstick element back in with the traditional Allen material. There were plenty of issues with Melinda and Melinda – the dramatic half of the film simply drags with unearned melodrama – but the comedic half, with Ferrell powering it, works far better.

Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Playing the Woody surrogate can be interesting when the role is written for a woman, because the character’s anxieties take on an entirely different significance: the neuroses can be turned into a sign of strength, rather than cowardice. Rebecca Hall’s character in Vicky Cristina Barcelona is quite strong – certainly stronger than any of Allen’s male stand-ins – while being absolutely plagued with the neuroses and concerns that come with the territory. Scarlett Johansson’s performance as the free-spirit best friend makes Hall’s anxieties all the more starkly laid out, yet Hall manages to keep the performance from veering into the realm of caricature, which is important in order for the film’s drama to work.

Scarlett Johansson, Scoop
Much was made when Match Point came out of how Scarlett Johansson was Woody Allen’s new muse, a la Diane Keaton in the 70s – but no one could have predicted the next year she would be playing a Woody surrogate alongside the man himself. Scoop is a real neurotic’s jackpot, with not one but two Woody-characters leading the way. As nosy student journalist Sandra Pramsky, Johansson puts on her best nasal New York accent and makes her way through an investigation into a serial killer’s identity. The character is far braver than Woody’s male counterpart, but equally stressed and jittery.

Tobey Maguire, Deconstructing Harry
It’s only a small role, but who could forget Tobey Maguire’s hilarious, wide-eyed take on the Woody character in a story-within-the-film of Deconstructing Harry? As a young guy who has a hooker over to his friend’s bachelor pad, only to end up having Death come calling, Maguire supplied an earnest aloofness that Allen himself often calls upon when playing stupid or hapless characters. It’s one of the funniest sequences in the film.

Owen Wilson, Midnight In Paris
Critics hailed Wilson’s performance for its none-too-insignificant role in helping generate Woody’s biggest commercial success of all time. Wilson handled all the usual aspects of the character, but on top of the standard performance, he added a layer of awe and wonder not seen in an Allen movie in quite some time – perhaps since The Purple Rose of Cairo. Wilson, like John Cusack, is an eminently likable guy onscreen, and he brings to the role a sense of genuine feeling that Allen himself hasn’t really channeled in decades (in his performances). By taking the film seriously, but also lightly, Wilson produced a counterintuitive take on the traditional role that made this film a winner.

Zachary Wigon is a writer based in New York. His work has appeared in the New York Press, NYLON, and Filmmaker Magazine, among many other outlets. He tweets @zachwigon.

Pages: 1 2