TV Retrospective: "Crisis in Six Scenes"

Scene from Crisis in Six Scenes

It was always going to produce interesting results. Last year marked the very strange news that Woody Allen was going to team up with Amazon for a TV series. Considering that the multi-hyphenated creator with a film-a-year pedigree doesn't have a proficient track record in the serialized medium, it left many to wonder how it would differ from his recent films like Irrational Man or this year's Cafe Society. To be fair, it's among the most Jewish humor projects that he's done. However, it doesn't achieve much else quite as successfully, coming across as a lesser film project with a more repetitive script. The issue isn't so much that Allen's style is outdated. It's that he doesn't in the slightest seem to know how to create a TV series.

In a move that's not too far removed from his best, Allen stars as an artist commenting on his career. In an early scene, he receives a haircut while discussing his desire to write the next great TV series. Speaking as his peers hate his ideas and his wife (Elaine May) thinks that he's senile, there's a tragic sense to Allen's worldview. Considering that the series takes place in the 60's during the Vietnam War, the series is supposed to be a commentary on the differing ideals that bump alongside each other. Allen and May take in an activist (Miley Cyrus) who wants radical change in the government. Everything from there is Allen doing what Allen does: riffing his way through madcap situations that are funnier than logical.

Considering that each episode logs in at approximately 22 minutes, there is a certain rhythm that the series should be able to develop. In most cases, one scene ends while transitioning to the next. However, there's rarely a satisfactory moment and creates qualitative conflict when trying to digest the series in small doses. Crisis in Six Scenes is basically a film cut up into various parts, as if it's an Allen film uploaded to YouTube. There's often no driving force, and early episodes feel almost action-free, even for an Allen project. By the end, there's a sense that a whole lot of nothing happened, if just because the ending is so abrupt and anticlimactic.

If you're an Allen fan, this routine is familiar. Even if recent films like Midnight in Paris and Blue Jasmine reassure fans that he's still got something to say, more often than not they're getting a variation on Crisis in Six Scenes. The only real difference is that Allen is starring in a lead role (his first since To Rome With Love), and playing up a senile version of his persona. On one note, its the most lively thing that he's produced in some time. The familiar opening credits feature lively rock music and archival 60's footage. There's a sense of rediscovery for a filmmaker set in his ways. Even the manic kvetching feels like a retread of what Allen used to do very, very well.

Considering that Allen released Cafe Society earlier this year through Amazon, one cannot help but wonder why he just didn't release this as another movie. It could just be that the story isn't that strong. Maybe it's a little unpolished, in need of a few more drafts. Considering that the series is about a frustrated TV writer, it's hard to not know why the show is more subversively intelligent about the struggles. In fact, the TV writer thing is a through line that rarely pops up, and often is used as a joke than anything of actual value. 

To his credit, Allen knows how to pick a cast. May is fun as his wife. Even Cyrus' jaded rebel is a nice play on a character that Allen usually writes, but never feels like he understands. There's some witty moments, but there's a resounding sense that this came from his reject pile and exists mostly because he was pressured into making a series. Considering the later reports that Allen regretted making a series for Amazon, this all begins to make a little more sense. It isn't a masterpiece probably because Allen didn't think to make it one. It's just an attempt to make a series, but not really knowing the first thing about show running.

Crisis in Six Scenes has good moments, but not enough to justify its structure. To be fair, it likely would play better without interruptions - admittedly still featuring lower production values. It is interesting that Allen thought to make a show like this exist, even if it's far from anything in TV's history. It's not even a quality miniseries. It just has a lack of satisfaction that feels noticeable because of the 22 minute cutting up. Those expecting brilliance, look elsewhere. This is only for completeists, and even then that will be a challenge.

OVERALL RATING: 2 out of 5