I don’t know which feels more undecided. My opinion of this film, or the film itself. The title is self-explanatory of the subject matter - but also, one hopes, suggests a degree of (self) parody, or satire. With Kenneth Branagh playing the role normally reserved for writer/director Woody Allen, I found myself expecting nothing less.
Branagh plays a writer/freelance journalist embarking upon a messy separation from his 16 year marriage, which he now feels was made too soon and constrains his existence. Serial flirtation follows, while his ex-wife (Judy Davis) disintegrates. The plot isn’t mind-blowing, but I’d be spoiling it if I told you how the twists and turns of the next few months evolve - not, at any rate, as you might assume. (I think it’s a few months anyway - perhaps it doesn’t matter, but the passage of time is loose to say the least).

In the opening scene Branagh attempts to chat up Winona Ryder (is she the reason this film is made in black and white? It’s all very pretty, and Ryder has a great face for the medium, but it was a little difficult to see the purpose behind it). It jars, as Branagh tries to be Woody. From then on though, things do get better, as Branagh actually makes the role more his own and it works suprisingly well. Gone is the black gear, sleek(ish) torso and blonde designer beard - Branagh makes a good, pasty, slightly dishevelled 40 year old! (and perhaps that image also might not have worked so well in colour).

But is it simply a study of celebrity and the deceptive lure of all its superficiality, or is it more? There’s a delicious moment when, at a film preview party, one character pours withering scorn upon film directors, and not least upon those who shoot in black and white for no good reason. Trouble was, that moments such as that one, were too thin on the ground to convince. Either they came across as patronising nods to an “intelligent” audience, or they felt like a clumsy bullet through the film’s foot. I spent a long time waiting for a cameo from Allen himself - there isn’t one (I think!), but it wouldn’t have been out of place.

Perhaps I’m being unduly harsh. The film is enjoyable and well shot - it looks good, even if the choice of B & W is questionable. Leonardo DiCaprio as, well, Leonardo DiCaprio is quite fun too. The ending is definitely effective. But perhaps a little unsubtle, with its cinema setting? Still, make your own mind up (I don’t dare presume to speak for Woody Allen die-hards). It’s worth an hour or two and has a little more substance to ponder than a certain phantom menace on the horizon.

Jonathan Prag