Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers (WGA):

Woody Allen (written by) and
Douglas McGrath (written by)

Release Date:

18 January 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

A killer comedy!

Plot:

In 1920s New York, a struggling playwright is forced to cast a mobster's talentless girlfriend in his latest drama in order to get it produced.

Plot Keywords:

Actress | Playwright | Play | Bodyguard | Gangster

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 15 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

John Cusack	...	David Shayne
Dianne Wiest	...	Helen Sinclair
Jennifer Tilly	...	Olive Neal
Chazz Palminteri	...	Cheech
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Ellen
Jack Warden	...	Julian Marx
Joe Viterelli	...	Nick Valenti
Rob Reiner	...	Sheldon Flender
Tracey Ullman	...	Eden Brent
Jim Broadbent	...	Warner Purcell
Harvey Fierstein	...	Sid Loomis
Stacey Nelkin	...	Rita
Malgorzata Zajaczkowska	...	Lili (as Margaret Sophie Stein)
Charles Cragin	...	Rifkin
Nina Sonja Peterson	...	Josette (as Nina Sonya Peterson)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-11 (cinema release) (1996) | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Netherlands:MG6 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

110th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

This is the second of two Woody Allen films using Irving Aaronson and his Commanders' performance of Cole Porter's "Let's Misbehave" during the closing credits. The first was 1972's "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask."

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When David stands in the street and argues with Sheldon Flender in the apartment above, the reflection of a powerful floodlight on a technical-looking stand is visible in the open window.

Quotes:

Eden Brent: There you are. Mr. Purcell, you have been stealing our dog yummies and eating them.
Warner Purcell: Absolutely not. That's an outrageous suggestion.
Eden Brent: Then let me see in your pockets.
Warner Purcell: Would I eat dog food?
Eden Brent: You'd eat anything that didn't eat you first, you big fat pot of helium.

Movie Connections:

References Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Soundtrack:

Crazy Rhythm

"You better get in the mood, honey, 'cause he's payin' the rent."

Set in 1920's New York City, "Bullets over Broadway" (1994) tells the story of a young playwright David Shayne who tries to produce his first play. He "stands on the brink of greatness. The world will open to him like an oyster. No... not like an oyster. The world will open to him like a magnificent vagina" but he needs to find money for production first.

The money comes from the gangster Nick Valenti on one condition - Nick's stunningly untalented bimbo girlfriend Olive ("She ruins everything she's in. She ruins things she's not even in") has to play a psychiatrist. Olive is accompanied to each rehearsal by hit-man/bodyguard Cheech who knows how the real people talk and turned to be a greater writer than David. David's leading man, Warner Purcell eats compulsively every time he gets nervous (and there are plenty of reasons for him to get nervous). David's relationship with the girlfriend Ellen suffers when he begins an affair with the talented leading lady Helen Sinclair ("I'm still a star. I never play frumps or virgins.") who is "in the last couple of years... better known as an adulteress and a drunk."

"Bullets over Broadway" is one of my favorite comedies by one of the favorite directors/writers, Woody Allen (I love you Woody, always have, always will - please make your gems, and I will be there to watch them). It has everything I look for in a comedy - brilliance, wit, clever writing, hilarious and sinister twist in the plot, amazing performances, authentic feel of the era and great musical score. "Bullets over Broadway" is pure delight from the beginning to the end. The best I could describe the film - to paraphrase the famous line from John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address: "Ask not what Art can do for you — ask what you can do for Art".

9.5/10