Schmalspurganoven

INHALT

Woody Allen drops a couple of social rungs to lampoon his hermetically sealed Manhattan surroundings in this throwback to his earlier wisecracking comedies. There's much to enjoy in Tracey Ullman's splendid performance as the nouveau riche cookie tycoon who seeks acceptance by taking a culture crash-course with highbrow Hugh Grant. Allen's inverted snobbery is strewn with entertainingly sulky acid drops and Elaine May's ditzy turn as Ullman's cousin is priceless. It's a shame, however, that Allen the director adopts such a patronising approach to his proletarian characters while aiming to expose the pretensions of the chattering classes. It's good, but not quite vintage.