Review: Play it Again, Sam

Woody Allen plays a depressed and neurotic film buff whose wife has left him. His friends, married couple Tony Roberts and Diane Keaton try to get him back on the dating scene, with comically disastrous results. Meanwhile, Allen receives relationship advice from Humphrey Bogart (Jerry Lacy, shrouded in a lot of shadow), a figment of his own imagination. After a while, Allen starts to feel attracted to the one person he shouldn’t: Keaton! Susan Anspach plays Allen’s wife, Jennifer Salt turns up as one of Allen’s disastrous dates.

 

Written by and starring Woody Allen (“Annie Hall”, “Deconstructing Harry”, “Manhattan”), this 1972 comedy comes from Woody’s own stage play, so it feels much more like a Woody Allen film, despite being directed by Herbert Ross (“The Last of Sheila”, “The Seven Per-Cent Solution”, “The Goodbye Girl”). Despite my theory that it has helped cause everyone to misquote “Casablanca”, it’s easily one of the funniest and most entertaining films Allen has been associated with, but given I’m not a Woody fan, you might feel differently. For me, it’s not on the level of his best film “The Front” (which he also didn’t direct, merely acting in it), but it certainly deserves a mention alongside “Annie Hall”, “Deconstructing Harry”, and “Manhattan” for entertainment value.

 

The cast is pure 70s, with names like Tony Roberts, Susan Anspach, and Jennifer Salt, but it still holds up pretty well in 2014 nonetheless. When we meet Woody, he’s in vintage form; Depressed, neurotic, and abandoned by his girlfriend. An hilarious scene has Woody turn to bourbon and soda to drown his sorrows. It doesn’t go well. I also loved the line about his apparently impulsive ex: ‘Yeah, but she didn’t leave impulsively. She talked about it for months’. Later, he makes without question the worst first impression in human history before a double date even starts (Having said that, I would’ve taken one look at Jennifer Salt’s god-awful Suzi Quatro mullet and said ‘No thank you, sir…I mean, ma’am!’. Which is why I’m single, I guess). There’s also a very funny scene where Woody goes on a date with a self-confessed nympho and even she’s not into him. The film also features the funniest exchange in any film Woody has been involved in:- Woody: What are you doing Saturday night?’ Girl: ‘Committing suicide’. Woody: ‘What about Friday night?’. It’s the most relatable and ego-free Woody has ever been, whilst still starring in something he wrote himself.

 

This may be the most warm and likeable Diane Keaton has ever been. I prefer “Annie Hall” as a film overall, but she’s lovely here. I do wish she’d stop wearing suits and ties, though. I loathe that fashion trend on women. Can you predict the ending from the very title? Pretty much, and it’s a little pretentious, but what’re you gonna do?

 

The one element that doesn’t work is Woody’s fantastical conversations with Bogey, as played by Jerry Lacy. He’s not a very good impersonator, and no matter the film’s motif, it’s just not necessary (It’s the kind of thing Woody overdosed on in “Midnight in Paris”, which was terrible and pretentious). The film works really well without all the film school nerd stuff.

 

A funny film and certainly one of the more accessible films Woody Allen has been involved in, I can’t find too much to fault here, certainly nothing that ruins the fun. Just don’t tell me that the phrase ‘Play it again, Sam’ is from “Casablanca”. It’s not. It’s ‘Play it, Sam. Play “As Time Goes By”’. Get it right, people!

 

Rating: B-