Play It Again, Sam | | Cast : | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton | | Director : | Herbert Ross | | Studio : | Paramount Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | May 04, 1972 | | DVD Released Date : | October 23, 2001 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 25, 2005 | | Summary | A Great Movie | Content
 | This is my favorite Woody Allen movie. It began as a successful play, and Woody loved it in that format so much he was reluctant to make it into a movie.
It must have been one heck of a play, because it's an outstanding movie. I'm sure glad he made the movie, and made it well. Now it's available to a much wider audience. Don't pass up an opportunity to see it.
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| Rating | | | Date | May 08, 2005 | | Summary | Early Woody. | Content
| Play it Again Sam is not one of Woody Allen's best movies, and, for this reason, I can only give it four stars. However, all of his early movies have merit and worth in my opinion. There is a great deal of silly comedy in this film and the character of Bogey always comes along to give our hero advice that he does not have the style or flair to put into practice. Play it Again... is rough and jaggedy compared to the uniform excellence of Sleeper and Banannas, but it's still a good bit of fun. Seeing Allen outside of New York (it's set in San Francisco)is quite a novelty and the beauty of a young Diane Keaton won't be something viewers will soon forget. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 07, 2005 | | Summary | One of Allen's Best! | Content
| I saw this film at Cal State Northridge with Eric Lax as a special guest. He is the author of Woody Allen: A Biography, as well as bios on Humphrey Bogart and Paul Newman. David Kipen, book critic for the San Francisco Chronicle moderated the program.
In answer to an audience member's question during the Q&A session, Lax said that Woody Allen has never made a bad film. I agree with this comment because I've enjoyed most of Allen's films. The ones I haven't been too fond of have plenty of redeeming qualities in them anyway. Even the heavy-handed Interiors had a lot to recommend it, at least for true movie buffs. Play It Again Sam was one of the funniest and most underrated Woody Allen film I have ever seen.
Based on a play written by Woody Allen in 1968 and directed by Herbert Ross (who also directed film versions of Neil Simon plays back in the 70's), the film concerns a mild-mannered film critic named Allan Felix, played by Allen, who is dumped by his wife (Susan Anspach). What a gorgeous woman like her was doing with a guy like Allan Felix is beyond me, but for some reason, Allen (was Woody playing himself?) tends to pair himself up with a slew of gorgeous females in almost all his films.
Felix's apartment is a shrine to Humphrey Bogart and it is none other than Bogey himself who counsels him in the romance department since his ego is crushed. Felix's best friend Dick (Tony Roberts) and his wife Linda (Diane Keaton) also try to find a woman for him by setting him up on one disastrous date after another. When Felix finds himself falling for Linda, a series of hilarious complications take place as he is guided by Bogey on what to do. This results in a funny yet touching reworking of the Casablanca ending with Linda even donning the Ingrid Bergman hat and Felix giving her the "Maybe Not Today, Maybe Not Tomorrow" speech, after which he replies, "It's from Casablanca. I've been waiting my whole life to say that."
Play It Again Sam was the first screen pairing of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, who would go on to star in over a handful of films together. All four lead actors, including Tony Roberts and Jerry Lacy, who does a perfect Bogart, were in the stage play together. It is interesting to note that, according to Lax, the actors knew which lines would get the most laughs because they performed the play on stage so often, that they slightly paused before continuing, so moviegoers wouldn't miss out on the next punchline.
This often overlooked film is, in my opinion, one of Woody Allen's most enjoyable comedies. The film has aged well, and the witty one-liners and comical situations are still hilarious. Perhaps the reason this film is hardly ever mentioned in lists of Woody Allen's best is because he didn't direct it, although it has the look and feel of an Allen directed film in every aspect. This was a sophisticated and worthwhile film that made me long for the days when comedies were actually funny.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 20, 2005 | | Summary | Very Quotable and very Rewatchable movie. Great Woody | Content
| `Play It Again, Sam', based on a stage play by Woody Alan is high among those movies one cites when you tick off the Woodman's `early, funny' movies. It should probably be noted that this is not a typical Allen movie in that he did not direct, although it is an excellent bridge, with the performances of Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts to his most famous movie, `Annie Hall' and others he did with Keaton around this time.
Just before viewing the DVD of this movie, I watched `Meet the Fockers' and found this very recent film with its stellar cast, to be less funny and more contrived than the little classic `Play It Again, Sam'. Even hours of extras on the Fockers' DVD cannot make up for the almost total lack of rewatchability in the film.
I have not watched `Play It Again, Sam' for some time, although I believe I have probably seen it at least three times before, yet I was still surprised at discovering new things about the movie. For starters, I found at least two pieces of business that I swear were copied directly into scenes of `Animal House'. Since `Animal House' is a great comedy that easily stands on its own merits, I don't begrudge the borrowing. Another observation I had with this movie was how much visual comedy there was going on. None of it was the kind of over the top long scenes done by W. C. Fields, but it definitely contributed a lot to the interest of the movie. A third new observation was the fact that `Play It Again, Sam' begins with a clip from the final scene of `Casablanca' and ends with the characters of `Play It Again, Sam' reenacting that same `Casablanca' scene. This fact stood out so strongly for me this time around since I just got finished seeing exactly the same device used in Allen's `Stardust Memories'. This is yet another case where `Stardust Memories' is quoting from Allen's other pictures. This really makes me wonder how many of Allen's films begin with a clip from some other movie.
The best things about really great movies is that you can find problems with them without that activity's spoiling your appreciation of the movie. In fact, richly produced films simply add to your pleasure by offering an object of analysis and comparison with other movies. I feel absolutely no urge to analyze `Meet the Fockers' other than appreciate the performances of Hoffman and Streisand and wish DeNiro would go back to doing Marty Scorsese gangster movies.
The name of this movie, `Play It Again, Sam', has probably contributed its share to the myth that this is a direct quote from `Casablanca'. As most know, Rick never actually says these four words together in the `Casablanca' script. This is only fitting, because the Bogart character dreamed up by the Allen character behaves like neither Humphrey Bogart nor Rick Blaine, his character in `Casablanca'. Allen's fictional Bogart is a construct of Allen's imagination, possibly based on Bogart in `The Maltese Falcon', but even Sam Spade would probably have more respect for women than the spectral trenchcoat with Bogart's name in `Play It Again, Sam'. My biggest question is whether this skewing of the Bogart persona was intentional and part of the interest of the film, or was he just molding things to fit his premise.
While the movie is not pure Woody, it is a very important part of his body of work and an important early demonstration of how good he was with visual humor.
Now all I have to do is figure out the reason for the business of the Allen character's sliding the two fried eggs from a plate back into a skillet. Seems to be connected in some way to his total inability to cook.
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| Rating | | | Date | April 17, 2005 | | Summary | You must remember this . . . | Content
| A Woody Allen movie set in San Francisco? Not in NYC? A sure-fire signal that something unusual, maybe even special, is in the works. Allen tries to emulate tough guy Humphrey Bogart to win over women after his wife divorces him. Diane Keaton plays the wife of his best friend who tries to help him along, and they end up falling for each other. The scene where Keaton comes over to Allen's apartment where they are to be introduced is absolutely hilarious, with Allen at his bumbling best. The finale has Allen giving Keaton up in a fog-bound airport, just as in CASABLANCA. As was becoming typical by this time in his career, Allen spends much of the picture ranting about his anxieties and failures, and the self-deprecating humor, especially in the slap-stick routines, is a riot. Definitely worth a watch. |
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