Everyone Says I Love You MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -1

While many Hollywood musical fans hope Evita triggers a revival, it's not the only new film that features songs. Woody Allen, who has frequently shown an affinity for old standards, turns his latest comedy into an unusual musical. An ensemble cast weaves through two storylines, frequently breaking into song and dance, even though most of the actors - including Allen - can barely carry a tune. He plays Joe, a neurotic American writer living in Paris who often returns to New York to visit his teenage daughter DJ (Natasha Lyonne). Ex-wife Steffi (Goldie Hawn) is now married to liberal lawyer Bob (Alan Alda). Bob's daughter Skyler (Drew Barrymore) is engaged to young lawyer Holden (Edward Horton), but she's distracted by a brooding ex-con (Tim Roth) that Steffi helped get released from prison. DJ eavesdrops on the psychiatric sessions of unhappily married Von (Julia Roberts), who Joe encounters on a family trip to Venice, Italy. Hoping her father can find romance, DJ tells him about Von's fantasies so he can play the part of the perfect man. Allen's scripting of these relationships doesn't rank with his best work, so the absurd musical numbers - especially one in a jewelry shop and another in a hospital - provide most of its entertainment value. Even this concept could have been more fully explored, so Everyone Says I Love You probably won't expand Allen's appeal beyond his small group of loyal fans.

Remove one joke and this is a "PG" movie. One song, "I'm Through With Love," is sung by various characters. At one point DJ dates a rap singer, and his band raps a version of "I'm Through With Love" that includes one jarring "f-word." A deceitful adulterous relationship is also used for comedic purposes. Joe and Von are shown after sex talking about his sexual prowess, with Von wrapped only in a bedsheet. At a funeral, ghostly spirits appear to do a song-and-dance number. Since Allen's films have never been overwhelmingly popular, it's strange that he would accept an "R" rating, further limiting his audience, by using an obscene word to generate one laugh. We also object to the portrayal of an adulterous relationship as acceptable.

Preview Reviewer: Mark Perry
Distributor: Miramax Films, 375 Greenwich, New York, NY 10013