Hollywood Ending
| Hollywood Ending | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by |
Letty Aronson Kathleen Kennedy Frank Marshall |
| Written by | Woody Allen |
| Starring | Woody Allen George Hamilton Téa Leoni Debra Messing Mark Rydell Treat Williams Tiffani Thiessen |
| Music by | David Arnold |
| Cinematography | Wedigo von Schultzendorff |
| Edited by | Alisa Lepselter |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | DreamWorks Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16 million |
| Box office | $14,839,383 |
Hollywood Ending is a 2002 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen, who also plays the principal character. It tells the story of a once-famous film director who suffers hysterical blindness due to the intense pressure of directing.
Val Waxman (Allen) is a once prestigious film director lately reduced to overseeing cheesy television commercials in order to pay his bills and support his current live-in girlfriend, Lori (Debra Messing). When he is thrown off his latest effort (a deodorant commercial being filmed in the frozen north), he desperately seeks a real movie project.
Out of the blue, Val receives an offer to direct a big-budget blockbuster movie to be set in New York City. However, the offer comes from his former wife, Ellie (Téa Leoni), and her current boyfriend, Hal (Treat Williams), the studio head who stole Val's wife from him.
Pushed by his agent Al Hack (Mark Rydell), Val agrees to the project, but a psychosomatic ailment strikes him blind just before production is to begin. With Al's encouragement and aid, Val keeps his blindness a secret from the cast and studio head. The movie plays out with an aging director struggling to regain his vision, both literally and metaphorically.
In the end, Val's project costs $60 million—and flops. Nevertheless, Val enjoys a "Hollywood ending" of his own—his movie is a hit in France. After winning Ellie back, he happily proclaims, "Thank God the French exist."
Haskell Wexler was the original cinematographer, but was fired by Woody Allen after a week of filming as they couldn't agree on how to film certain shots. Wedigo von Schultzendorff replaced Wexler.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film received 47% positive reviews, based on 130 reviews.Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 46 out of 100, based on 37 reviews.
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