Play It Again, Sam

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.

I'm a big fan of Woody Allen. While his films often have something wrong with them, you can always count on a good time and a laugh while you're watching - and that's certainly what you get here! Woody Allen films are always best when Woody himself stars in them; his neurotic persona is a great base for laughs, and he certainly delivers in this film! For some reason, Woody Allen chose not to direct this film himself and Herbert Ross has got that job. Due to the cast, and Woody's script, however, this is very much another Woody Allen flick, no matter who is in the director's chair. This film also features the first screen pairing of Allen and Diane Keaton, who would, of course, go on to make Allen's masterpiece 'Annie Hall', along with Tony Roberts, who also co-stars here. The plot of the movie plays out like a tribute to Casablanca, and it sees recently dumped Allen falling in love with his best friend's wife, all the while under the watchful eye of the great Humphrey Bogart, whom he sees in his daydreams.

The humour in this film is awesome and also amazingly funny. Scenes that see Woody Allen blunder his way through dates are hilarious, and Allen's dialogue is at its dry and witty peak. The scene in which he tells of a fight he had with two 'hairdressers' being an excellent example of his writing. Allen tends to play the same sort of character in all of his films, and the one here shows him doing that again. This would be a problem, if he weren't so amazingly good at it. As the man festers in his own pathos; we can really believe it, and this gives the film a great sense of believability and also offers up a prime example of Allen acting at his best. The film isn't a complete one-man show, however, as the underrated Tony Roberts, along with Diane Keaton also give grand performances. The movie tributes in the film are many, with most pointing to the great Casablanca - and this is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. On the whole, this is an intelligent, entertaining and hilarious movie from one of cinema's best comedians. Highly recommended!

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.

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!

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.