Woody Allen stands tall with 'Dark Stranger'

A Woody Allen film used to be about words. His characters talked, processed and analyzed, none more so than the ones played by Allen himself. But as the filmmaker has aged - he turns 75 in December - he has focused more on actions and choices. His characters say less, which allows them to reveal more.

In "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," Allen's favorite sounding board - the therapist - has been replaced by, of all things, a psychic named Cristal (Pauline Collins). She provides hope and succor to Helena Shepridge (Gemma Jones), whose husband, Alfie (Anthony Hopkins), has left her to recapture his youth.

Alfie will later marry a call girl (Lucy Punch, "Dinner for Schmucks"), one of several worrisome choices people make in this film. His daughter, Sally (Naomi Watts), has married a novelist, Roy (Josh Brolin), but is flirting with her boss (Antonio Banderas). Meanwhile, Roy is falling for his pretty neighbor, Dia (Freida Pinto, "Slumdog Millionaire").

Everyone is seeking happiness, but only the semideluded Helena seems to have found it. That's an interesting observation, if not a coherent narrative; "Stranger" sometimes feels like several one-act plays sewn together. Still, Allen remains a master at sketching people just lightly and finely enough that they become convincing, unpredictable and engrossing.

The acting is top-notch, particularly from Hopkins. Near the film's end, his Alfie delivers a short, emotional speech that contains the word "if." It's barely audible, but it says more than an hour's worth of therapy.