You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

Plot

Follows a pair of married couples, Alfie (Hopkins) and Helena (Jones), and their daughter Sally (Watts) and husband Roy (Brolin)…

Release Year: 2010

Rating: 6.3/10 (15,776 voted)

Critic's Score: 51/100

Director:
Woody Allen

Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin

Storyline
Follows a pair of married couples, Alfie (Hopkins) and Helena (Jones), and their daughter Sally (Watts) and husband Roy (Brolin), as their passions, ambitions, and anxieties lead them into trouble and out of their minds. After Alfie leaves Helena to pursue his lost youth and a free-spirited call girl named Charmaine (Punch), Helena abandons rationality and surrenders her life to the loopy advice of a charlatan fortune teller. Unhappy in her marriage, Sally develops a crush on her handsome art gallery owner boss, Greg (Banderas), while Roy, a novelist nervously awaiting the response to his latest manuscript, becomes moonstruck over Dia (Pinto), a mystery woman who catches his gaze through a nearby window.

Cast:

Gemma Jones
–

Helena Shebritch

Pauline Collins
–

Cristal

Anthony Hopkins
–

Alfie Shepridge

Rupert Frazer
–

Jogging Partner

Kelly Harrison
–

Personal Trainer

Naomi Watts
–

Sally Channing

Josh Brolin
–

Roy Channing

Freida Pinto
–

Dia

Eleanor Gecks
–

Rollerblading Friend

Antonio Banderas
–

Greg

Fenella Woolgar
–

Jane

Ewen Bremner
–

Henry Strangler

Christian McKay
–

Poker Friend

Philip Glenister
–

Poker Friend

Jonathan Ryland
–

Poker Friend

Details

Official Website:
Official site [France] |
Sony Pictures Classics [United States] |

Release Date: 27 August 2010

Filming Locations: Albion Riverside, Battersea, London, England, UK

Box Office Details

Budget: $22,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $160,103
(USA)
(26 September 2010)
(6 Screens)

Gross: $3,247,816
(USA)
(6 February 2011)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

USA: 98 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

Anna Friel filmed her role in a day.

Goofs:

Continuity:
The napkin in front of Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) when at lunch with Helena. He unfolds it, then it's again perfectly folded.

Quotes:

Helena Shebritch:
Another life. I just have to shed the old one and try again.

User Review

Not perfect, but Allen is still an important voice

Rating: 8/10


An odd film for Allen, neither an overt comedy or one of his dark
serious films (e.g. 'Crimes and Misdemeanors'). This is a 'light'
drama, something he hasn't done much. While far from Allen's best work,
I felt more warmly towards it than most of the press, especially after
a second viewing. Some of the criticisms are valid; the voice over
narration feels out of tone with the film, and at times tells us too
literally what we already know. Yet, in the current American cinema,
how many film-makers are getting to even and try and address the
complex subtle questions of grown-up relationships, aging and the fear
of death, and the lies we tell ourselves to get through it all? Or deal
with the paradox that humans seem to need something to believe in, and
yet that same belief can also lead us astray? Or give great older
actors like Anthony Hopkins and Gemma Jones really meaty roles? As long
as Allen keeps asking questions, he'll remain a voice worth listening
to.