Whatever Works

Whatever Works is a 2009 American comedy film directed and written by Woody Allen and starring Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley Jr., Michael McKean, and Henry Cavill. It was released on June 19, 2009, received mixed reviews and grossed $35 million. Plot Boris Yelnikoff is a cynical, misanthropic chess teacher and former Columbia quantum mechanics professor. Divorced, he avoids most people, and except for three friends and his students, is patronizing to anyone he meets who doesn't match him intellectually. He also spends much of the film washing his hands, while singing the song, "Happy Birthday". Boris comes home one night to find Melody, a simpleminded 21-year-old, on his doorstep. He reluctantly helps her, and she soon tells him her story. Melody turns out to have a distinctly Southern background, with fundamentalist parents in Mississippi, from whom she's run away. She asks if she can stay the night, which Boris eventually allows. While staying with Boris, Melody develops a crush on him, despite their age difference, varying cultures and intelligence. Melody soon finds a job as a dog walker where she meets Perry Singleton, and they arrange a date. When she comes back home afterwards, she explains to Boris, she didn't like Perry because he loved the world too much. Boris realizes that he's in love with her and they soon marry. A year later, Melody's mother, Marietta, finds Melody, explaining that she and her husband, John, thought Melody had been kidnapped. She goes on to tell her that John left her and sold their house after John lost money in the stock market. She meets Boris and is disappointed with him, so she tries to persuade Melody to end the marriage. The three go for lunch and meet Boris's friend, Leo. When Marietta goes to use the restroom, a young man, Randy Lee James, inquires about Melody and Marietta slyly decides to recruit Randy, who has fallen in love with Melody at first sight, to end her marriage. Later that evening, Leo, who had taken an interest in Marietta, asks her over for dinner. They spend the evening together, and discover that she's a talented photographer.