From Woody Allen, With Familiar Tropes From His Oeuvre

So, "To Rome With Love," Woody Allen's newest movie isn't very good. The plot largely combines a cheerier version of "Celebrity" with "Deconstructing Harry," two of his most bitter offerings from the largely depressing turn he took in the late 1990s, with a little bit of "Mighty Aphrodite" -- a better movie from the mid-'90s -- thrown in. There are some zany comic moments, though Allen saves most of the best lines for himself, but you have to sift through a hefty amount of aimless scenes to enjoy them. Nonetheless, "To Rome With Love" also synthesizes many of Allen's most familiar themes, which, even if they aren't presented so enjoyably in this movie, resonate true and endear me to him:

* The number of beautiful women in the world is infinite. If someone as attractive as Greta Gerwig can be cast in as meaningless a supporting role as she has in "To Rome With Love," where she's only given three lines that are a variation on how nervous she is that her boyfriend, played poorly by Jesse Eisenberg, will leave her, then there must be an endless number.

* Culture's lowbrow has as much value as its highbrow. Each has pleasures that should be appreciated, whether it's shower-bound opera singers or balding Italian TV studs, as in this movie, or guilty pleasures of any stripe in music, movies, TV, and so on. Scoffing at the former because you think only the latter has meaning ultimately makes you foolish and shortsighted.

* As a corollary of the above: Knowledge can be found in all corners. It's not a surprise that Allen lets a chauffeur deliver the most lesson-filled line of the movie, in which Allen surprisingly admits that the celebrity life isn't so awful after all. Nor is it one that Penelope Cruz's high-end call girl proves to be the movie's steadiest, most instructive character. There are many different kinds of knowledge and one needs an open mind to learn.

* Death and suffering are forever in the foreground of life. That doesn't mean one needs to fear them, but one should acknowledge them and adjust life's daily rhythms accordingly.

* Be restless. Allen's character here equates retirement with death. That's a bit hyperbolic, but I like the idea of releasing a movie (or the white-collar equivalent) every year into my late 70s. Head to the top and then stay there.

Above is the trailer for "To Rome With Love." At this point in his career, Allen probably doesn't have to invest much in trailers -- you already know if you're going -- which is evident here.