Ebbing had three billboards, Coney Island has one. And its weathered appearance and empty boast sets the tone for Woody Allen’s latest variation on a theme: “Barrel of laffs”. Only it’s not. The Ferris wheel has ground to a halt like Stephen Hawking’s chair. The boardwalk is in danger of sinking under quicksand thanks to the pyrotechnic proclivities of a disgruntled delinquent (Jack Gore).

And the riderless horses in the carousel are running rings round its owner Humpty Rannell (Jim Belushi), a recovering alcoholic in financial difficulty who is unseated by the unexpected arrival of his estranged daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) who is on the run from the her gangster husband because she knows where the bodies are buried.

If that wasn’t enough to contend with, Humpty’s second wife Ginny (Kate Winslet), a former actress-turned-waitress who hit the bottle after the love of her life tired of her infidelity, has  taken another bite of the forbidden fruit. This time with Mickey Rubin (Justin Timberlake), an aspiring dramatist working as a lifeguard who, in turn, has the hots for Carolina. Simples? If only.

But then as Woody Allen reminds us through the straight-to-camera narration of Mickey, the tragedy of the human condition is that most things in life are out of our control and that we tell lies to ourselves in order to live. Typical Woody Allen. Typical jaunty jazz score. Typical sun-dappled cinematography, this time by the Oscar-winning Vittorio Storaro with whom he worked on the tepid Cafe Society.

Coney Island may not be a “Barrel of laffs”, but the amiable screenplay is sure to raise a titter. Especially the final shot which without giving too much away sheds a light on the fate of the characters. And the performance by Kate Winslet is, like the titular wheel, a wonder. Her meandering monologues, again so typical of Allen, delivered with such class that she packs more shifts of emotion in a line of dialogue than most actors manage in an entire shoot.

Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Justin Timberlake, Juno Temple, Robert C. Kirk
Peter Callaghan
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