Play it Again, Sam
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Movie Reviews of Play it Again, Sam
Movie Review: We had it all, like Bogie and.....er, Woody?
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know what it is about this particular Woody Allen vehicle, but no matter how many times I have viewed it over the years, I laugh just as hard at all the one-liners as I did the first time I saw it. Annie Hall and Manhattan may be his most highly lauded and artistically accomplished films, but for pure "laughs per minute", I would nominate this 1972 entry, with a screenplay adapted by Allen from his own original stage version. Ironically, it's the only "Woody Allen film" that wasn't directed by him (those chores went to Herbert Ross). Allen portrays a film buff who is particularly obsessed with Humphrey Bogart. He fantasizes conversations with Bogie's ghost (played to perfection by Jerry Lacy) who advises him on how to "be a man" and attract the perfect mate. He receives more pragmatic assistance from his best friends, a married couple (Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts) who fix him up with a series of women (the depictions of the various dating disasters are hilarious beyond description). A true comedy classic.Movie Review: one of the early great ones
Summary: 5 Stars
Adapted from the play of the same name, done by Woody Allen (which also starred Diane Keaton), this is the movie version.
This was Keaton's first of many movies with Woody Allen, and it's a great one.
Woody Allen's character, named Allen, has just broken up with his girlfriend, now two of his friends (who are married) are trying to find Allen a date.
With true nervous Woody Allen style, going on dates and trying to find a new girlfriend is torture for him.
Some great scenes include Woody Allen getting prepared before a date in the bathroom; Woody describing what happened to him last night (when he had got in a fight at a bar)
There's one more thing I should mention about this movie: Allen is a huge fan of Humphrey Bogart, especially in Casablanca. And wouldn't you know it that Allen has hallucionations of Bogart talking to him. Poor Woody
Movie Review: You must remember this . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
A Woody Allen movie set in San Francisco? Not in NYC? A sure-fire signal that something unusual, maybe even special, is in the works. Allen tries to emulate tough guy Humphrey Bogart to win over women after his wife divorces him. Diane Keaton plays the wife of his best friend who tries to help him along, and they end up falling for each other. The scene where Keaton comes over to Allen's apartment where they are to be introduced is absolutely hilarious, with Allen at his bumbling best. The finale has Allen giving Keaton up in a fog-bound airport, just as in CASABLANCA. As was becoming typical by this time in his career, Allen spends much of the picture ranting about his anxieties and failures, and the self-deprecating humor, especially in the slap-stick routines, is a riot. Definitely worth a watch.Movie Review: Far better than Annie Hall
Summary: 5 Stars
Play It Again Sam somehow got a reputation of not being as good as Annie Hall. Nearly everyone has bought into that assessment, and that's a shame. While Annie Hall is a great comedy, Play It Again Sam is a true artistic masterpiece. In many ways--the characters, the shtick--of Annie Hall derive from the earlier Play It Again Sam.
What makes PIAS an artistic masterpiece? The completely innovative way in which the Bogart character and the Casablanca associations are woven in. Comedy not for the sake of laughing, but in support of the deeper theme. Everything ties together, each part supports the whole, and the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts.
Hopefully, the movie will someday get the credit it deserves.
Movie Review: Watch It Again, Sam
Summary: 5 Stars
Woody Allen is perhaps the most prolific filmmakers of all time. In terms of his "earlier funnier" movies, "Play It Again, Sam" is possibly his best.
There is something for everyone. The obvious yet inventive tie-in to "Casablanca" satisfies devoted film buffs. Chemistry between Allen and muse extraordinaire Diane Keaton makes the rom-com crowd quite happy. Allen's trademark dialogue will leave even the biggest theatre snob laughing.
In the end, "Play It Again, Sam" is vintage Allen. At face value, it all seems like fun and games. Yet, just a scratch below the surface level reveals something greater than comedy: universal truths about love and the human condition.