Woody Allen’s 1996 musical, with Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Tim Roth and Drew Barrymore. The cast sings old standards in their own voices, and everyone sings awfully. Barrymore was the exception: she got dubbed. The awfulness adds to the fun. If I wanted someone who can sing, I’d watch an opera.
The movie is really pretty, though. New York in the fall, Venice, Paris at Christmas, Goldie Hawn floating along the Seine. It even features Perlman. Everything about it is luxurious.
It’s like Mozart. It came out before 2008, and there’s not a trace of the unrest and anxiety that came after: no crash, no phones, no dread. People with Park Avenue apartments fall in and out of love in beautiful cities, and that’s enough. Pure art and human happiness.