Very funny, especially the first half. The second part, or the "fish out of water" part, is not as successful.

Less remarkable than many of Woody's films, ya, but nonetheless really diverting. I've always liked it- I think it was one of the first Allen films I saw, as I didn't really give him a chance until I was a bit older.

B-


In my recent Woody Allen catch-up phase, this stands out as the worst effort by him I've seen (I think I've seen worse before that, but don't remember well enough).

That's not to say it's bad. It still has some of Allen's usual wit, solid acting and a decent screenplay, but I felt that after they have become rich the thing just starts falling apart slowly, but surely. As yoshue has said, the "fish out of water"-thing just didn't work as well. I was also quite a bit annoyed by Elaine May's character and that not in a good way, sadly.

Still, the first 30 minutes or so have some seriously hilarious moments and great screenwriting, it's a shame the rest didn't keep up, but Allen is still gold in my book as far as writing great original screenplays goes. One misstep is more then equalled out by many many excellent scripts.

Likeable, funny, probably suffers most from comparison to other Allen movies. I would say the biggest issue is a somewhat lack of a cohesive vision. The way different segments like the cookie shop tunnel digging and Allen and May stealing the necklace last so long and disconnect from the main plot, makes me think their plan with the movie's plot was looser and they just sort of rolled with the comic set-ups, somewhat similar to the way it seemed like early 70s Allen approached his comedies. Feels like a completely different guy than the one who carefully crafted Mighty Aphrodite and Deconstructing Harry just a few years before, maybe he just started getting old at this point

This is Woody Allen firmly in his wheelhouse. The subject is a little different, I guess. But the farcical nature of it is a flawless blend between his 70s buffoonery and his more recent arthouse tendencies. It's funny (not very funny, but funny), and Allen has such an energy about him. He cannot stop talking, but it all makes sense. It's all exquisitely timed comedy banter, and you can even see the craft at work - things just happen and he keeps rolling, and that becomes the final edit. It's such a refreshing way to make a film, which is probably why he can knock out films so often. I thoroughly enjoyed this.