88. Bullets over Broadway (1994)

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88. Bullets over Broadway (1994)

August 22, 2012 by wondersinthedark

How Bullets Over Broadway made the Top 100:

Marilyn Ferdinand No. 8

Pedro Silva No. 26

Bobby McCartney No. 40

John Greco No. 43

David Schleicher No. 55

Tony d’Ambra No. 60

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Posted in Genre Countdown: Comedy, Uncategorized | 28 Comments

28 Responses

on August 22, 2012 at 1:21 pm | Reply Sam Juliano

Seems that this one polarizes Allen fans, with some singing its praises (the six voters who supported it in this polling) with others seeing it as one of the comedy icon’s weakest efforts. I’d fall myself somewhere in the middle, acknowledging it has it’s moments.
- on August 22, 2012 at 5:48 pm | Reply Jaime Grijalba
  
  Can someone post the votes for this one?
- on August 22, 2012 at 9:00 pm | Reply David L
  
  I’m with you on this one, Sam. Throughout most of BROADWAY several of the performers seem to be on the point of hysteria, which I think is severe overplaying of the material and distances me from the film.
  - on August 22, 2012 at 10:14 pm jamieru
    
    That and the actual ‘material’ in question isn’t much to write home about. Especially in an era where the American underground has several darkly funny new voices emerging, Woody Allen just offered this limp thing.
  - on August 23, 2012 at 11:40 am Sam Juliano
    
    Great point there David, and succinct corroboration from Jamie! David, just to let you know I again appreciate that fantastic submission to the Diary! I will be most happy to address it and some other great ones from John Greco, Jaimie, Shubhajit, Judy and others as soon as I get back home later tonight.
  - on August 25, 2012 at 8:18 am David L
    
    Thank you Sam but do not worry about replying – you’re on vacation! And I hope it is a very enjoyable one.
- on August 23, 2012 at 12:11 am | Reply weepingsam
  
  I’m no fan of Woody Allen – this is one of the few I bothered to see new in the theater in the last 25 years – I liked it okay, but wasn’t moved to see any more for a while. I’m not sure what would distinguish it from most of his films in the 90s, good or bad. I will say I wanted to like it, more than most of Woody’s films – it just never really seemed to catch…
  
  Also – how on earth did this come in ahead of Sleeper? though that’s a mea culpa – I didn’t vote for Sleeper – I don’t know why. It didn’t miss the cut by much. I should have watched it again, to make myself vote for it. I don’t know why I didn’t really, except that 60 is a small number of films, and I was confused.
  - on August 23, 2012 at 12:00 pm Sam Juliano
    
    Weeping Sam, I’m not sure how it finished ahead of SLEEPER. Though personally I do agree with you, I know some others I respect here favor it. Dennis and Pierre especially are moderate fans.
- on August 23, 2012 at 11:37 am | Reply Sam Juliano
  
  Jaimie, I will post the voters for this thread as soon as I get back home later tonight.
- on August 25, 2012 at 5:34 pm | Reply Camolas
  
  I was the one who had the responsibility to submit the review.
  I am at Angola for a couple weeks and in the depths of Africa, access to internet still a problem, sometimes.
  My apologies to Sam and you all.
on August 22, 2012 at 1:27 pm | Reply Pierre de Plume

I’m a fan of this film – it’s in my top 100. Bullets may not be Allen’s greatest effort, but it contains some entertaining characterizations (Palminteri, Tilly, Broadbent, Fierstein) and a great comedic performance by Dianne Wiest (the film’s greatest asset IMO).
- on August 22, 2012 at 1:30 pm | Reply Sam Juliano
  
  Pierre–
  That admittedly ‘great comedic performance by Wiest’ which did win an Oscar, is also in my view a major or THE major selling point for this often underestimated film. But I will agree too on what you say about those other categorizations as well.
on August 22, 2012 at 9:47 pm | Reply wondersinthedark

Right, as a Pedro Silva – don’t know him, don’t intend to – was going to do this one and then couldn’t be arsed either doing it or telling anyone, and he’s down for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in two days time, is there anyone else who’d like a crack at that.
- on August 23, 2012 at 3:03 am | Reply Jaime Grijalba
  
  I volunteered for practically all Woody Allen films, except those taken… this was taken. I could write something now but it’s too late. Hope someone can crack that Almodovar film (haven’t seen it).
- on August 23, 2012 at 3:30 am | Reply Sam Juliano
  
  I am presently at a hotel in Cleveland and will be heading back to New Jersey tomorrow morning. Pedro Silva (Camolas) did send me an apologetic e mail stating that he is presently in Angola and has not had hardly any internet access. He didn’t mention the second essay he has set for Friday on the Almodovar film, so I am assuming it’s a no go at this point.
on August 23, 2012 at 3:32 am | Reply Jaime Grijalba

This film is also on my top 100 and it just missed the top 60 list I was doing (it ended up number 88 in the extended one I did later).
I like the mixture of the high and the low in this one, the culture that is so appreciated by our main character played by John Cussack, he must go up and down at the same time from his already low (economic) status in which he is at the start and that maintains all the way to the end, when he is finally convinced that he is not a real artist, as he isn’t attached to his roots and just wants to aim to the serious tone that no one actually likes anymore, and that is the staple of the ‘high’ culture.
The low comes from many says, from the crime world in which the actress that our main character is forced to work with, and even with that, they live in a world of luxury that is more akin to a high level of culture. The actress comes from the lower depths and becomes an actress for one of the most beautiful arts in the world, and her performance is just as marvelous as any other in the film, taking a cue from Singing in the Rain’s most memorable supporting female performance.
One of the great films of the 90′s that Woody made, a decade that is usually not among the favorites of many, but man… he had this, he had Husbands and Wives, he had one of his masterpieces even, Deconstructing Harry… sure there are duds like Shadows and Fog, but who cares when we have a film like this one. A lovely mix of the high and the low at all times… I almost forgot how the most uneducated of the crowd is the one that is actually giving the play the substance that it needs. Lovely comedy.
- on August 23, 2012 at 12:06 pm | Reply Sam Juliano
  
  Utterly fantastic capsule here Jaimie, I completely agree with Judy!
- on August 23, 2012 at 2:40 pm | Reply jamieru
  
  Except that there isn’t anything ‘high art’ about this film, and much of the ‘low’ is typical Allen caricature of poor, downtrodden, ‘But Happy!’ people. Therefor the film becomes neither and stays right down the center, in the middle of the road.
  - on August 23, 2012 at 11:33 pm Jaime Grijalba
    
    I think that the thing I love the most of the film is the ‘pretension’ of high art that everyone tries to achieve and that no one accomplishes except for the only guy you would never expect it to.
on August 23, 2012 at 8:35 am | Reply Judy

I do remember liking this a lot, but am realising that I’ve got it mixed up in my mind with some other Woody Allen films, so will have to watch it again soon. Nice mini-review from Jaime.
on August 23, 2012 at 12:06 pm | Reply wondersinthedark

Bullets Over Broadway anmongst the top 100 comedies ever made. Only three words suffice, the same uttered by Victor Mature tied to the pillars of Gaza, though perhaps punctuated with a profanity after the ME.
- on August 23, 2012 at 12:08 pm | Reply Sam Juliano
  
  Allan I would say I agree with you here myself, but it’s a popular Woodman title, as Ed Howard over at ONLY THE CINEMA has confirmed with a fabulous review of the film. It has some serious support, but like you my reverence for it is much more subdued. But Woody is so great that anything he has made will always be fair game for most.
- on August 23, 2012 at 2:38 pm | Reply jamieru
  
  Not sure this one even makes the top 10 Woody Allen comedies, so yeah this being in the Top 100 (and over some great films no less) is quite a thing. It not having a review pretty much sums it up, no one could be bothered to even sit down for an hour or so and write one.
on August 23, 2012 at 5:21 pm | Reply mark s.

Per Wiki: Allen will adapt ‘Bullets Over Broadway’ as a musical set to open on the Great White Way next year. Are your ditties wet yet?
on August 23, 2012 at 5:43 pm | Reply Pierre de Plume

I think the quality about this film that appeals to me in particular is that it’s about the theater and theater people. As a former actor, I identify with the over-the-topness, especially Wiest.
- on August 25, 2012 at 8:24 am | Reply David L
  
  Have you seen the Canadian show “Slings & Arrows”? It ran for three seasons, each focused upon the production of a different Shakespearean play, and is often quite hilarious. The season two finale remains one of my favourite television episodes.
on August 23, 2012 at 11:17 pm | Reply Dean Treadway

I find the movie dull and stiff. I’ve never bothered going back to it after seeing it in the early 90s. How anyone could think this film is funnier than, say, MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY, is beyond me.
- on August 24, 2012 at 5:52 am | Reply Pierre de Plume
  
  Dean, you said the magic words: Manhattan Murder Mystery. As you may know, that film had the unfortunate fate of being produced right after Woody and Mia broke up over his affair with Soon Yi and released on the heels of the scandal about it. Even though it’s a “small” movie – even for Allen – I think it’s a great caper comedy. Diane Keaton was magnanimous in assuming Farrow’s role at the last minute and did a bang-up job. Good stuff!