. But that hasn't stopped him making a string of stinkers outside of Hollywood, from Wonder Wheel (2017) to 2020's Rifkin's Festival. His glorious mid-career run of Annie Hall and Manhattan has seemed very far in the past. But the buzz about Coup de Chance – which has been warmly reviewed and received a standing ovation in Venice –suggests he's far from a spent force. And while it might not quite match the heights of vintage Allen, it's a fine chance to reflect on his preposterously prolific career. Here's our ranking of his feature films – from true stinkers to all-time classics. 50. Hollywood Ending (2002) The curtain-raiser for Cannes in 2002 was the definition of a duff opener, pleasing nobody: Allen cast himself as a once-fêted director who suffers an attack of hysterical blindness. Strenuous farce ensues, with a feature-length quantity of dead time on screen, and only Téa Leoni threatening to be an asset. The punchline explains its Cannes berth: when the $60 million movie Allen's character directs while blind is a resounding flop, his one consolation is that the French love it. But not even the French loved Hollywood Ending. Allen has often shown an interest in stage magic and hypnotism (see also: Scoop, Magic in the Moonlight), but this enthusiasm reached its unfortunate nadir in this dodo of a light comedy, his most expensive film (it cost $33 million) and by his own reckoning among the worst. His own performance as a wisecracking insurance investigator hypnotised into jewel theft was one problem, but Helen Hunt doesn't fare much better as the ruthless efficiency expert he wants off his back. All the film achieves is managing to look lavishly nostalg){kind=link}
Woody Allen has released his best film in years – but how does it measure up against Sleeper or Blue Jasmine? Our critics reveal all
He’s back. Woody Allen has returned to the Venice Film Festival with a new film, Coup de Chance. The 87-year-old director has struggled to get any of his pictures off the ground in the US since late 2017, when his his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow made accusations of sexual abuse (all of which he has denied).
But that hasn’t stopped him making a string of stinkers outside of Hollywood, from Wonder Wheel (2017) to 2020’s Rifkin’s Festival. His glorious mid-career run of Annie Hall and Manhattan has seemed very far in the past.
But the buzz about Coup de Chance – which has been warmly reviewed and received a standing ovation in Venice –suggests he’s far from a spent force. And while it might not quite match the heights of vintage Allen, it’s a fine chance to reflect on his preposterously prolific career.
Here’s our ranking of his feature films – from true stinkers to all-time classics.