"Miami Rhapsody," which had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, is a Woody Allen-style movie with Sarah Jessica Parker as Woody.
That may seem like an odd analogy, but the film - from its plot to its rapid-fire one-liners - is very much in Allen territory, and Parker is wonderful and funny as a troubled young woman who can't decide whether to get married. (Sort of a flip-flop of "Honeymoon in Vegas" dilemma.)
The character's doubts come from the discovery that everyone she knows - including her parents - is having an affair. This is the '90s, after all, and Hollywood thinks that being faithful is quaint. But as you might suspect, before the film is over nearly every character will see the error of his/her ways and realize that marriage is a sturdy institution after all.
The bulk of the comedy comes from Parker's witticisms, and even her verbal cadence - especially in conversations with Mia Farrow as her mother - seems Woodyish. A talented supporting cast helps, including Paul Mazursky as her father, Antonio Banderas as her grandmother's nurse (who is having an affair with Farrow and soon falls for Parker), Kevin Pollak as her brother (who has an affair with supermodel Naomi Campbell), etc.
Other Allen-style touches include stark white-on-black credits, Parker talking directly to the camera and an old-standards sound-track, beginning with Louis Armstrong singing "Just One of Those Things."
Distinctly non-Allen, however, is the colorful look of the film, which nicely accents the uniquely Florida combination of Jewish and Latin American influence.
In all, first-time writer/di-rector/producer David Frankel ("Funny About Love," TV's "Doctor, Doctor") has come up with a sprightly adult comedy that should please most audiences.
"Miami Rhapsody" is rated PG-13 for sex (nothing explicit), partial nudity (model Campbell at a photo shoot), profanity, vulgarity and comic violence.