BULLETS OVER BROADWAY (Woody Allen, 1994) R

Reviewed: April 20th, 2002

One of Woody Allen's finest; what is the artist's responsibility to his art muses Bullets Over Broadway, and though Allen's without an answer it's great fun to watch him try and sort the question out. Watching the movie again last night I was particularly struck by the visuals. This is not necessarily a rare thing to happen to me during an Allen film as his visuals (marked by long takes) are often striking. But what was particularly uncommon was the way I stopped thinking about Woody Allen the writer entirely and started concentrating solely on Woody Allen the director. A large part of why this mindset hit has to do with the fact that Bullets is one of only two Allen movies of the last twenty-three years which is co-written with someone else (in this case, Douglas McGrath) and therefore Bullet's script is pretty different than all of Allen's others (even Manhattan and Annie Hall, which despite being co-written with Marshall Brickman are distinctly "Allen").

On first glance at Bullets you might not think so. After all, there's John Cusack playing the Woody Allen surrogate part (see also: Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity), a neurotic, struggling playwright concerned with the differences between the artist and the man and wondering how much of each he possesses. But look closer and the whole affair does feel different from typical Woody Allen, perhaps a little more refined, a little more polished. Everything in Bullets Over Broadway, right down to the subtlest camera move and the smallest performance, flows so effortlessly.

Not to say Woody Allen movies ever feel strained; he's a master filmmaker who makes making movies seem easy. But Bullets has an intangible quality that pushes it into another area from traditional Allen films. Not necessarily a better area, just a different one. Maybe it has something to do with the time period and locale--glamorous, lush Broadway, circa 1920s--or maybe it has something to do with the fact that the last Allen film I watched, Husbands and Wives, is his most jagged and freewheeling (the entire thing is shot handheld with lots of jump-cutting and what feels like frequent improv).

I mentioned that Bullet's script was co-written by Allen with Douglas McGrath, but I can't seem to recall any particular scenes or lines of dialogue that wouldn't be found in another Allen film. Maybe it's more of a general vibe I'm picking up on then. The script feels less intentionally jokey than Allen's other work, the humor less gag orientated and sharpened. It doesn't feel like Allen's trying to make us laugh as hard as usual, and of course, that just makes everything all the funnier.

Watching Bullets Over Broadway I realized for the first time that Allen could definitely direct something he hasn't written. And not just do it, nail it. We always think about Woody Allen the filmmaker, but Woody Allen the director doesn't get enough credit. The performances in Bullets are universally perfect (as they are in virtually every Allen film). Jennifer Tilly, Dianne Wiest and Chazz Palminteri were all deservedly nominated for Oscars; Weist won.

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