Sick Product of a Sick System

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This is the Woody Allen movie which is always quite easy to overlook. The reason being is that it is the one time where he wrote and starred in a film that he did not also direct. It was based on a Broadway play that he had written and was directed by Herbert Ross. But in all honestly it feels like it could very easily be an Allen directed effort to me and if I didn't know otherwise I would never be able to guess it was anyone else at the helm quite frankly. It stands out a bit when compared to the other films he was directing at the time, all of which were pure comedies with no real focus on realistic situations or even plots but it is very similar indeed to later films such as the classic Annie Hall (1977), which combined broad comedy and physical humour with realistic relationship material that that merged comedy, drama and romance. Quite honestly, no matter who directed this one, it remains one of the best films that Allen has ever been involved in and is successfully hilarious as well as making pertinent observations about male-female relationships.The story centres on a newly divorced neurotic film critic, who has problems with forming new relationships with women. His best friends try to help him meet new ladies but it leads to a series of disastrous dates. The story is straight forward enough but the performances and writing are really what it is all about. Allen is accompanied for the first time by a couple of actors he would work with several times in Tony Roberts and Diane Keaton, who play his best friends; with Roberts so work-obsessed he neglects his wife Keaton who spends increasing amounts of time with Allen, resulting in them having a short affair. All the actors have great chemistry together, with Allen and Keaton in particular working beautifully together.Allen's script is very good with many typically memorable one-liners but it is sometimes the more physical moments that create the biggest laughs, such as the uproarious scene where he is introduced to a new date in his flat and then proceeds to make an absolute clown of himself which had me squirming with laughter. Another aspect which makes this one stand out is the way it pays homage to Casablanca (1942), which Allen's character is obsessed with. Throughout the picture he is visited by an incarnation of Humphrey Bogart, brilliantly played by Jerry Lacy, who offers hilariously unsubtle advice in how to pull women. This mixing of fantasy into a comedy-drama framework is something Allen would return to repeatedly in his later career but its arguable that he never did it so well and funny as he did here. All-in-all, this slightly overlooked movie is truly a great Woody Allen movie, irrespective of whether he was in the director's chair or not!

far to be a fan of Woody Allen filmography, I admire the science of cultural embroidery of this unique director. Play It Again, Sam is a good example. because it is more a lesson of cinema than a story. because the cultural references are more present than the neurotic intellectual, helpless in front of reality. old fashion gags, slices of Charlot, dialogues preserving the mix of humor and ambiguity, the imaginary friend, the solution to the search of true love, the end who impress for the details who reminds each part of the final part of Casablanca, not only as image but , in same measure, in its spirit.a homage to the film art. this is the axis of this movie. its great virtue - the beautiful chemistry between Allen and Diane Keaten. a film who preserves the flavor of entire work of Allen . the themes, the fears, the reactions, the solutions. and who does the reality more acceptable. that is all.

The Three Acts:The initial tableaux: At the very front of the film is an extended clip from the tail end of Casablanca (1942). If you are aiming to see Play It Again, Sam I would suggest seeing Casablanca first, if you have not already. That parting scene is close to the heart of neurotic movie critic Allan, who lives in San Francisco.The film soon jumps to the reality of Allan's wife leaving him. Allan's involvement with Casablanca spills over into his life as the waking hallucination of Bogart giving him advice for his many problems. No one else sees Bogart, of course.Delineation of conflicts: Allan's arguments with his ex wife are largely over, but she comes back to bite him now and then. Allan tries to re-enter the dating scene with the help of close friend Dick Christie and wife Linda Christie. These attempts run counter to Allan's lack of confidence, urge to impress by fakery, and need to make clever comments over making progress. Bogart's suggestions make sense for Bogart, but not so much for Allan.As the dating failures mount, Allan and Linda have a growing sense of attraction. Linda is married to Dick, and Dick is Allan's best friend, so how can this work?Resolution: The film comes full circle.

Allan Felix (Woody Allen) is a neurotic film critic and loves Casablanca. His wife leaves him and his couple friends Dick (Tony Roberts) and Linda Christie (Diane Keaton) try to set him up. His hero Humphrey Bogart drops by to give him advice and so does his ex-wife Nancy. He has trouble dating normal girls and the crazy ones are crazy. So he ends spending most of his time talking about girls with Linda.Some of it is hilarious. The incompetent dates are funny. I don't laugh as much with the fantasies. As a rom-com, it doesn't hit all the right notes. Dick has to be more of a dick for the audience to root for them breaking up. Of course, he's trying to re-engineer Casablanca and that's not Dick's role. Woody and Diane continue to have great chemistry. This has some hilarious moments and mostly works.