Paul is an actor who feels bogged down by his participation in a production of Chekov's play, Vanya.Paul is an actor who feels bogged down by his participation in a production of Chekov's play, Vanya.Paul is an actor who feels bogged down by his participation in a production of Chekov's play, Vanya.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 9 nominations
Anna Dyukova
- Olga
- (as Anna Dukova)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film was inspired by a dream Sophie Barthes had in which Woody Allen discovers that his soul looks just like a chickpea. Barthes wrote the first draft with Allen in mind for the lead role.
- GoofsDmitri tells the actress not to worry that Paul's soul looks like and is the size of a chickpea, telling her that Al Pacino won three Oscars. Al Pacino has actually only won one Oscar (Best Actor in 1992, Scent of a Woman).
- Quotes
Giamatti - Paul: Are you telling me, my soul is a chick pea?
- SoundtracksKalitka
Written by A. Obukhov, A. Budishchev (traditional)
Performed by Larisa Bell
Featured review
Hummus
This is depressing, because it is not merely bad, it stomps on some very precious ideas.
The fault is in trying to be Woody Allen; even he fails most of the time. There is a deep concept here, but it is obscured by the attempt to wrap it in humor.
The thing worth noticing:
This is a film about performance. Actors have a cursed life in that they have to fill themselves by emptying themselves. The full life is the life committed to potential waste. We are all actors. These concepts first appeared in drama in the famous Vanya of Chekhov. "Vanya on 42nd Street" changed that into a layered folding, making the connection to life outside of the theater explicit.
Here, Giamatti plays the role of Wallace Shawnin "Vanya on 42nd."
David Strathairn plays the same role he did in the similar "Limbo," while Dina Korzun adapts the Audrey Tautou role from "Dirty Pretty Things."
Even the secondary characters are pulled from cold storage with Lauren Ambrose asked to stand in for the Alicia Witt role in "Liebestraum." All of those referenced films repackage Vanya's notions which are deep and disturbing, as suicidally disturbing as they were for the uncle.
There is a way to handle this with humor, I am sure, but Barthes does not find it. She empties and does not fill.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
The fault is in trying to be Woody Allen; even he fails most of the time. There is a deep concept here, but it is obscured by the attempt to wrap it in humor.
The thing worth noticing:
This is a film about performance. Actors have a cursed life in that they have to fill themselves by emptying themselves. The full life is the life committed to potential waste. We are all actors. These concepts first appeared in drama in the famous Vanya of Chekhov. "Vanya on 42nd Street" changed that into a layered folding, making the connection to life outside of the theater explicit.
Here, Giamatti plays the role of Wallace Shawnin "Vanya on 42nd."
David Strathairn plays the same role he did in the similar "Limbo," while Dina Korzun adapts the Audrey Tautou role from "Dirty Pretty Things."
Even the secondary characters are pulled from cold storage with Lauren Ambrose asked to stand in for the Alicia Witt role in "Liebestraum." All of those referenced films repackage Vanya's notions which are deep and disturbing, as suicidally disturbing as they were for the uncle.
There is a way to handle this with humor, I am sure, but Barthes does not find it. She empties and does not fill.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
helpful•63
- tedg
- Mar 1, 2011
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $905,209
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $63,302
- Aug 9, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $1,134,837
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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