TSPDT Series, #91

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What would you rate this film?

1
0
No votes
2
0
No votes
3
0
No votes
4
0
No votes
5
1
7%
6
0
No votes
7
1
7%
8
2
14%
9
4
29%
10
6
43%
Haven't seen it
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 14

letmeintomyzone
Different Class
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TSPDT Series, #91

Post by letmeintomyzone »

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babydoll
Movin' On Up
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Re: TSPDT Series, #91

Post by babydoll »

I gave it a 9. For some reason, this was just never my favorite Woody Allen movie. It's odd, because I feel this is probably the quintessential Woody Allen movie for several reasons. One is that this movie almost blatantly about his and Diane Keaton's relationship; two is that this has an unique mix of drama, comedy, romance, and even animation (!) for a Woody Allen movie; three is that this is the main beginning of his second career where he moved on from the comedies like Sleeper to a diverse mix of comedy or drama or both like Manhattan and Interiors. Nonetheless, I'll watch it, but it's just not favorite. I prefer Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Hannah and Her Sisters and Radio Days to this movie.
Superpan
The Only Way Is Up
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Joined: Fri May 19, 2017 12:54 am

Re: TSPDT Series, #91

Post by Superpan »

Finally found some time to post thoughts! Not sure what the policy on spoilers are for these kind of threads (and this film in particular where I feel everyone knows how it goes), so I'll just put *SPOILERS* up here as a warning.

I also gave it a 9 myself. While an incredibly entertaining film, I admit I always felt Woody lets himself off too easy at the end. The film clearly shows that, in many ways, it's Alvy's neurosis and a certain condescension he can't help but feel towards everyone around him that have constantly sabotaged his relationships. From complaining about Annie smoking pot to fantasizing about pulling out Marshall McLuhan to insult a stranger in line, this seems present throughout the whole film building up to maybe the most self-hating scene I've seen in Woody's films: the scene where he's trapped in the parking lot after Annie refuses to get back with him and cuts back to him in the bumper cars as a kid. It's an incredibly visceral montage, one where his frustration with his inability to change seems to finally break through.

Yet at the end of the movie, he directs a play where he and Annie get back together and then delivers a big monologue that tries to make the movie about how crazy it is that anyone falls in love, trying to make the movie a universal statement instead of the intensely personal tragedy it is. It chickens out in confronting how self-destructive the hero is in a way that, say, <i>(500) Days of Summer<i> does not. That's really all that's holding back an incredibly entertaining, sweet, and innovative film.

Of course, this may be colored by my tendency to read too much of Allen's biography into his films. Because of this, I can't help but see Allen letting his behavior off the hook here as perhaps being connected to his later emotional callousness in real life. But this is still my third favorite of what I've seen.
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