Whatever’s clever

At this point seeing a May-December romantic comedy from Woody Allen—who turns 74 this year—is not exactly surprising. What is nice is that the venerable writer and director is comfortable enough with his reputation and the format to add a healthy dose of snark to it. Enter Larry David. The newly single Seinfeld creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm star appears in Whatever Works—out Friday in limited release—as Allen’s equally neurotic, equally Jewish stand-in. In a script Allen pulled from his early ’70s vaults, David plays a wealthy New Yorker who flees his cushy life for Bohemian bender on the Lower East Side where he meets Melodie, a curious Southern transplant 30 years his junior. Evan Rachel Wood inhabits the cradle David is robbing as his age and brash upperclass quirks clash with her concerned parents. Patricia Clarkson, Michael McKean and Ed Begley Jr. co-star. Rated R. (Courtesy Sony Picture Classics)