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Play it again Sam
1972
Director: Herbert Ross
Screenplay Woody Allen
Based on the Play by Woody Allen
Featured Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Jerry Lacy and Susan Anspach
Review:
When Allen Felix's wife leaves him because she claims he is one of life's great watchers and she wants to be a doer he is encouraged by his friends to get back in the dating game. When Felix gets nervous about meeting women he turns to his hero, Humphry Bogart, for advice. Allan does not seem to get the disconnect between Bogart's advice which has a definite 40's sexist bent and the type of women he wants to meet. Phrases like , "I haven't met a dame who did not understand a slap in the face or a slug from a forty-five" don't seem helpful in the 1972 dating scene. He not only gets advice from Bogart,, but also from his ex-wife. Some of the funniest scenes involve Bogart and His ex-wife arguing in a grocery store isle over Allan's dating strategy. .I don't want to spoil the plot, but suffice it to say that things get complicated and in the end Allan uses the major plot points from the end of Casablanca to sort out his love life.
I have heard it said that Woody's films are very derivative, which I interpret to mean that his stories are not very original. I find many of Woody's films to be incredibly original. He may have picked up ideas here and there, but what he ends up with almost always seems original to me. Films like Play it Again Sam, Mighty Aphrodite, The Purple Rose of Cairo, etc all seem fresh to me. When you consider that he made this film in 1972 that means it was proceeded by Take the Money and Run, Bananas, and followed by Sleeper, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex but were Afraid to ask, and Love and Death. What I am saying that the spark that was leading up to Annie Hall and Woody's very creative period between 1977 and the early and Mid Eighties was already present in Play it Again Sam..This is incredible when you think that the play on which it is based was written even earlier in Woody's career. I interpret this to mean that Woody was capable of making the transition to serious film making that began with Annie Hall, five years earlier with this film. Don't get me wrong, I know that many of the films I listed above were commercial successes, but is it not possible that Woody was held back from starting the most productive years of his career five years earlier than he did, because his films would not have been commercial enough? For years i have been asking what if Woody had not Crashed and burned over this thing with Mia that resulted, in my opinion, in some less than stellar contributions from Woody. I mean it is way past time to ask what if when it comes to Woody's career because we can never know what could have been.All I am saying is that an artist only has so many years to create, and now I wonder what might have been if Woody was able to transition into serious films earlier and not crashed and burned in the nineties, in my there could be no doubt that he could have improved on an already stellar career. This movie is recommended for those who enjoy romantic comedy, especially if you are interested in Woody's other work.
Play it again Sam
1972
Director: Herbert Ross
Screenplay Woody Allen
Based on the Play by Woody Allen
Featured Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Jerry Lacy and Susan Anspach
Review:
When Allen Felix's wife leaves him because she claims he is one of life's great watchers and she wants to be a doer he is encouraged by his friends to get back in the dating game. When Felix gets nervous about meeting women he turns to his hero, Humphry Bogart, for advice. Allan does not seem to get the disconnect between Bogart's advice which has a definite 40's sexist bent and the type of women he wants to meet. Phrases like , "I haven't met a dame who did not understand a slap in the face or a slug from a forty-five" don't seem helpful in the 1972 dating scene. He not only gets advice from Bogart,, but also from his ex-wife. Some of the funniest scenes involve Bogart and His ex-wife arguing in a grocery store isle over Allan's dating strategy. .I don't want to spoil the plot, but suffice it to say that things get complicated and in the end Allan uses the major plot points from the end of Casablanca to sort out his love life.
I have heard it said that Woody's films are very derivative, which I interpret to mean that his stories are not very original. I find many of Woody's films to be incredibly original. He may have picked up ideas here and there, but what he ends up with almost always seems original to me. Films like Play it Again Sam, Mighty Aphrodite, The Purple Rose of Cairo, etc all seem fresh to me. When you consider that he made this film in 1972 that means it was proceeded by Take the Money and Run, Bananas, and followed by Sleeper, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex but were Afraid to ask, and Love and Death. What I am saying that the spark that was leading up to Annie Hall and Woody's very creative period between 1977 and the early and Mid Eighties was already present in Play it Again Sam..This is incredible when you think that the play on which it is based was written even earlier in Woody's career. I interpret this to mean that Woody was capable of making the transition to serious film making that began with Annie Hall, five years earlier with this film. Don't get me wrong, I know that many of the films I listed above were commercial successes, but is it not possible that Woody was held back from starting the most productive years of his career five years earlier than he did, because his films would not have been commercial enough? For years i have been asking what if Woody had not Crashed and burned over this thing with Mia that resulted, in my opinion, in some less than stellar contributions from Woody. I mean it is way past time to ask what if when it comes to Woody's career because we can never know what could have been.All I am saying is that an artist only has so many years to create, and now I wonder what might have been if Woody was able to transition into serious films earlier and not crashed and burned in the nineties, in my there could be no doubt that he could have improved on an already stellar career. This movie is recommended for those who enjoy romantic comedy, especially if you are interested in Woody's other work.