Woody Allen wrote the play and screenplay for Play It Again Sam. Despite it being directed by Herbert Ross,
this is Woody Allen’s film. It contains similar
plot and subplots that we already had seen in Take the Money and Run and that we are going to see again in Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her
Sisters and a number of other Allen films. If I give it a bit more leeway,
it’s only because this movie came so early in Woody Allen’s career.
Woody Allen plays a character named Allan, a neurotic writer
who only seems to make a favorable impression on one particular woman – Linda (Diane
Keaton), his best friend’s wife. Allan
bungles every other relationship he has including his own marriage. Allan, by the way, is a Bogart fanatic and
wishes above everything else to be like his idol. He has imaginary discussions with Bogart who
tries to advise Allan on how to approach relationships. Nine times out of ten, due to his own
personal clumsiness, Allan cannot heed Bogart’s advice.
Perhaps because Linda is almost as neurotic as Allan,
somehow the two end up having a one-night stand. Linda and the guilt-ridden Allan are now in
love while Linda’s husband, Dick (Tony Robert’s), suspects that something is
truly wrong in his marriage. Like Bogart
does at the end of the Casablanca,
Allan goes to the airport and convinces Dick and Linda that they belong
together.
I agree with Roger Ebert’s assessment that Play It Again Sam may seem too
predictable. Ebert forgives Allen
because Ebert feels the movie is so ultimately funny. If I forgive Allen, it’s only because no
other talent has been able to come upon the scene that can duplicate what Allen
has done.
Even at this late date, Woody Allen is one of the most
original of talents in the movie industry.
While his approach to film is due to his experience in Broadway rather
than Hollywood, anything creative in the movies is a step above what we are
mostly presented. Allen good naturedly
makes fun of himself. When the rest of the movie industry takes itself all too
seriously, what Woody Allen has provided is extremely refreshing.
Unfortunately, when you do the same thing over and over,
even with the kind of talent Woody Allen has, it begins to grow old. Woody Allen will never be Bogart. His movies will never demand of his viewers
to do the impossible. It’s only possible
to see so many of his films. Allen still
is capable of making good movies as evidenced by Midnight In Paris, which came out in 2011. If that film had been made at the same time
as Play It Again Sam instead of in recent
years, the critics may have rated it much higher.
December 29, 2014
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