“I am a man with a huge world view. And I am surrounded by microbes.”

Last night found me slumped on the couch by myself, knocking back a (miniature) bottle of Riesling while watching Woody Allen’s latest flick, Whatever Works.

It’s such a clever film! As with all his others, it is about everyday people and their imperfect life choices.

And I simply love the dialogues.

The lead is a divorcee ("Let's face it, our marriage hasn't been a garden of roses. Botanically speaking, you are more of a Venus Flytrap."), who does not believe he needs love and companionship in life because he views himself a genius who is cursed to live with the rest of us - cretins, mindless zombies, morons, sub-mentals, inchworms, vermins and pygms - until he can successfully kill himself. (Two failed suicide attempts to his name.)

The heroine is a cheerful, resilient and pretty teenage prom queen (he calls her a sub-mental baton twirler – haha!) who ran away from home and married the genius because she likes the idea that if the genius would have her as a wife, she must be smart enough.

But when she propose a breakup after cheating on him with a handsome young actor, you can feel the hurt pride in our genius’s response: "I think that you are making the correct decision. I'm a profound and sensitive soul with an enormous grasp of the human condition. It was inevitable that you would eventually grow tired of being so grossly overmatched. Greatness isn't easy to live with by someone of normal intelligence...if I can understand quantum mechanics I can certainly comprehend the thought process of a sub-mental baton twirler."

Then there is the closet gay father who married a woman because it was in the natural order of things and the right path to go. He was sobbing about his failed marriage in a bar to a gay man who also just came out from a bad relationship:

Closet gay father to gay man in bar: “So, you are saying you also just divorce your wife …named Nigel?
Gay man: Yes, we got married in Holland
Closet gay: But… that will make you a…
Gay man: Divorcee?
Closet gay: No… a member of the homosexual persuasion.
Gay guy: You make it sound like a religion. Well, if it is, I’m a follower. Wait, make that a fanatic
Closet gay: Isn’t that against God’s laws? The God who created man and women and the rest of the world?
Gay guy: God is gay…. He is a decorator!

The message in this film is quite simply that everything in life, down to the person you love, is transient and constantly changing. Life and love are not something you can grasp and control. Most part of is just your luck. Or whatever works for you.

The film predictably ended with everyone finding their own idea of happiness, and Larry David ended with this speech during a new year party:

"I happen to hate New Years celebrations. Everybody's desperate to have fun trying to celebrate in some pathetic little way. Celebrate what, a step closer to the grave? That's why I can't say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filtch or provide, every temporary measure of grace -- whatever works! Don't kid yourself, it is by no means up to your human ingenuity, a bigger part of your existence is luck. Christ, you know the odds of your father's one sperm from the billions finding the single egg that made you? Don't think about it or you'll have a panic attack!"