At the suggestion of a reader I took a look at Woody Allen's Bananas. The was the second film written, directed by and starring Woody Allen.
All his early influences are present, including an obvious homage to the Marx Brothers. The movie is a perfect example of what Allen calls his "slapdash" approach to comedy. Try anything and everything and see what works.
Allen stars as Fielding Melish, a product tester who falls in love with activist girlfriend (Louise Lasser). When she dumps him because "somethings missing" he decide to visit the totalitarian dictatorship San Marcos, where he gets mixed up with the guerrilla revolutionaries and eventually becomes the new president. He returns to the U.S. seeking financial aid and is arrested by the FBI and put on trial. He also hooks up with his ex-girlfriend and ends up marrying her.
The film features to very funny bits by Howard Cosell, parodying ABC"s Wide World Of Sports. There is also a funny montage as Allen trains to be a revolutionary. The film is mostly gags strung to gather on an absurd plot. Sylvester Stallone shows up in a bit role as a thug on a subway which is very funny.
The movie follows in the steps of Allen's classic mock documentary Take The Money And Run and is not as funny. The movie is episodic and some bits don't work as well as others. There is a bit where Allen orders food for the rebels at a local cantina which is hilarious, but then it's followed by a scene with Allen dining with and trying to woo a female revolutionary that goes on way to long.
The movie is very funny, but it's not Allen's best work. What's missing is a female counterpart to balance him out. Louise Lasser and Allen are too much alike. It's when he started working with Diane Keaton as his muse that his work really stepped up to the next level.
At The Movie House rating ***
1 comment:
I should see this movie again. I only saw it once in its entiretry and I remember thinking it was hysterical. Perhaps time will have changed that as well as my view of Sleepers. We will have ot see. although I suggested Take the Money was a 4 star movie, I would agree with you that this one is likely in the 3 star range. Again, I am not certain of sleepers.
I saw a very good movie with Rock Hudson recently caslled Seconds. Quite fascinating. Something along the lines of a Twilight Zone episode
I also watched Carnival opf souls last week and i will say that without a doubt that movie held up extremely well. It is plain creepy. In fact, I give it 4 stars as it is a true classic in that genre. I also had a watching of a film I waited a long time to see, Dementia. I was very disappointed as the suspense was minimal and the story a bit confusineg, although there was a bit of decent creepiness...2,5 stars
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