Hollywood Ending

Val Waxman (Allen) is so down on his movie-directing luck that when Hollywood offers the chance for a comeback, he's persuaded to take it, despite the fact that it means working for his ex (Leoni) and the studio head (Williams) who stole her away. Waxman's difficult anyway, but when something - jealousy, anger, or something else? - renders him psychosomatically blind, he has to try to behave himself while concealing his disability on set. Uncharacteristically broad, even coarse, in its comic tone, Allen's leaden movie-making satire also suffers from undue repetition, rampant illogicality (many gags operate as if Waxman were also deaf), lazy stereotyping (most notably of the young), poor pacing and excessively heavy-handed metaphor. Leoni and Williams do their best, but haven't a chance against the otherwise ubiquitous mugging and hand-me-down script.