Tombe les filles et tais-toi

Easily my favorite movie with Woody that he did not direct, 'Play it Again, Sam' is a hysterically funny homage to Bogart, divorce, adultery, dating, an overactive imagination, meeting women in museums, and calling your office with all the telephone numbers you can be reached at..this is some great stuff and Woody's social awkwardness and pratfalls and neuroses will have you laughing throughout.

One of my favorite scenes is Woody trying to meet an attractive woman at a museum. She turns out to be a little more unhappy than he is but is also very funny in her darkness.

The very best is Woody getting set up on a blind date with Jennifer Salt. His nervousness will stay in your mind long after the movie is over.

What could be cooler than having a screen legend hanging out with you, offering you dating tips? This classic 1972 comedy written by and starring Woody Allen gives him two, one the specter of Humphrey Bogart, the other a young Diane Keaton just working her way into film.

Woody plays Allan Felix, a film critic who has just been dumped by his wife and sets off to fill the hole in his heart. "I'll get broads in here like you wouldn't believe," he tells himself. "Swingers, freaks, nymphomaniacs, dental hygienists." But when even the nymphomaniac complains about his getting fresh, he realizes it won't be so easy. Enter Bogart, appearing in a series of fantasy sequences, and Keaton, very much a part of his real life as one-half of the married couple that jumps in to help Allan out. Alone amongst women, she can see Allan as a worthwhile guy, especially with their shared love for apple juice and Darvon.

"Play It Again, Sam" is a bit of an anomaly for an Allen comedy. It's set in San Francisco, not New York, and is directed by Herbert Ross rather than Allen himself. But it's very funny, kind of poignant, and a clever way of examining the foibles of hooking up, circa the 1970s. A number of comic vignettes examine the various ways seeking out the opposite sex can go wrong, on the dance floor, in a Chinese restaurant, in a bar. My favorite has to be the museum hottie with the pneumatic voice: Only an Allen movie would have its best punchline be about committing suicide.

The central point of the film, as brought out by another apparition only Allan sees, his ex-wife, is that the world is broken up into watchers and doers, and Allan the film critic is too much the former. Bogie gives him much the same advice, but Bogie and the ex-wife don't exactly get along in Allan's daydreams, leading to awkward moments. "Don't listen to him!" "Don't listen to her!" "Fellas, we're in a supermarket."

Besides, as Allan notes, it's one thing for Bogie to get slapped, another thing for him: "Your glasses don't go flying across the room."

Other than "Annie Hall" and "Sleeper," this is the best of the early Woody Allen comedies, another way of saying the best of Woody Allen. Ross's unpretentious style keeps the focus on the humor and the performances, and even makes Allen seem a gifted physical comedian, which he isn't. Keaton is a terrific foil for Allen, both platonically and as it turns out, otherwise, while Tony Roberts as her husband (this being his first of many Allen films, too) makes for a wry straight man with his constant phone calls and his appearances in some fun fantasy send-ups, the best of them in Italian.

You really like the characters in this one. Empathy can be a powerful weapon in comedy, something Woody apparently forgot as he moved into his Bergman phase. The ending is neat without being satisfying, the dream sequences aren't used to their full potential, and some of the rape jokes sound really bad all these years later. But you laugh a lot watching this film, a nice vehicle for Woody's observational humor and for seeing the game of love played in its most ineptly enjoyable form.

My first and foremost thought about this movie is that you MUST see "Casablanca" (1942) first, for two reasons:

First, "Play it Again, Sam" contains not only archival footage from the 1942 classic, but numerous dialogic and other references which would be lost on someone who hasn't seen "Casablanca."

Second, and more important, is that the surprise ending of "Casablanca" is revealed in the *very first scene* of "Play it again, Sam."

Beyond that, "Play it again, Sam" is probably second only to "Annie Hall" among the Woody Allen / Diane Keaton films. Woody fans will enjoy the neurotic, psychosexual ramblings of the central character, which are typical of his movies, as well as the numerous elements of physical comedy, which are not as common in Woody Allen films. And watch for the scene in the art gallery -- it's a classic!

Directed by Herbert Ross, "Play It Again, Sam" (1972) is Woody Allen's film from the beginning to the final credits. Allen wrote the screenplay based on his Broadway play and he starred as Allan, a neurotic movie buff who writes the film reviews (what else?). Allan not just loves movies; he lives in the movies' world and constantly takes advices on how to get the girls from the legendary hero of his all time favorite movie "Casablanca", Humphrey Bogart's Rick. I am not a fan of "Casablanca" at all but if my favorite Artist is so much in love with it, maybe I should give it another try.

When Allan's wife Nancy leaves him, his best friend Dick (Tony Roberts) and his lovely wife Linda (Diane Keaton) try to fix him up with several eligible pretty young ladies. Very typically for Woody's characters, he is a total failure with them. The only woman he feels comfortable with, he shares the same insecurities and neuroses, the one whose Birthday he remembers and who he desperately wants is Linda, his best friend's wife. "Play It Again, Sam" is a remarkable movie for several reasons and one of them - it was the beginning of a wonderful working (and not only) relationship between Allen and Keaton that would result in the movies "Bananas" (1971), "Sleeper" (1973), "Love and Death" (1975), "Annie Hall" (1977), "Interiors" (1978), "Manhattan" (1979), "Radio Days" (1987), and "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1993) and will bring them both well deserved fame and Oscars. Made 34 years ago, "Play It Again, Sam" holds up very well and I would call it my favorite earlier Woody's film and the best Woody's film that he has not directed.

8/10

Allen plays a film critic who has been cruelly dumped by his wife. He wants to meet other women but is very neurotic (no surprise there). He idolizes Humphrey Bogart who shows up from time to time to give him advice on dealing with woman. His best friends--couple Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts--try to help also. Naturally he ends up falling for Keaton.

Allen didn't direct this (Herbert Ross did) but he wrote it. So it sounds like a Woody Allen film but doesn't LOOK like an Allen film. For one thing it was shot in San Francisco--not New York! It's also somewhat dated in 1970s dialogue and fashion. There's also a running joke involving Roberts and telephones that doesn't work today. Still this is a very good film.

It is an affectionate take-off on "Casablanca" and other old films also. Allen is playing has patented neurotic character but I've always found him funny and his disastrous dates are just great. Also him, Keaton and Roberts always worked well together and it makes their relationship seem very believable. And Jerry Lacy is VERY funny playing Bogart and giving Allen advice.

If you don't like Woody Allen movies this probably won't change your mind. But I found it fast, funny and very entertaining. And the dated 70s touches were actually quite funny. I give this a 8.