Unfortunately for Whatever Works, the plot does fall off in the second half, with Melodie’s parents, Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) and John (Ed Begley Jr.), coming to town and both altering their lives greatly in the big bad city. Though their stories are funny, there being included to the extent they are changes the dynamic of the film greatly, and their characters are less compelling than Boris.
The Blu-ray release of Whatever Works contains a dearth of special features. There is a preview of an upcoming film and a trailer for this one. It is something of a disappointment not because it is unexpected but because it would be wonderful to hear Allen talk more about the movie.
As for the technical aspects of the release, the video contains a significant amount of grain, but has good colors and sharp details. The audio track is an English 51. DTS-HD Master Audio track and sounds quite good. As a dialogue heavy film the surrounds rarely have to do much work. There is also a tendency for any effect sound (most notably anything that crashes or bangs) to sound a little louder and perhaps slightly jarring for its loudness.
The essential message of Whatever Works is that people have to find just that. They have to go through their lives trying to find joy and happiness wherever and however they can. They force themselves into a niche because they feel they ought to be there – if it doesn’t work, if it doesn’t lead to happiness, they should try something else. Anyone attempting to find happiness, even if it is for a mere 92 minutes, would do well to start with this film.
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