Bullets over Broadway has one of the best casts for a Woody Allen film ever. John Cusack, Chazz Palmenteri, Dianne Weist, Mary-Louise Parker, Jennifer Tilly, Jack Warden, Tracy Ullman, Rob Reiner, and a slew of good character actors. And the premise is good. A playwright who wants to see his "work of art" transformed into a masterpiece on a Broadway stage and not hacked to pieces by producers and directors and actors who take it upon themselves to change the script. This movie has much of what has made the Woody Allen films work in the past. Great music from the jazz era in New York city, which is where and when this movie is set; excellent and well developed script and characterizations, and even good cinematography. BUT. . . and alas, this picture tends to run just a bit uneven and even feels canned some of the time, especially during the ending (which is not atypical of some of Allen's earlier works as well). The actors occasionally tend to look as though they could have used one more rehearsal. Mostly I wish Woody had played the John Cusack role of playwright/director David Shayne, who starts out thinking he is a great artist but comes to find out he knows almost nothing about life, letting the chanteuse's bodyguard take over the script writing of the play he is bringing to Broadway. It is a funny premise, and overall I liked the film. How could I not, I ultimately asked myself. But I will quibble. It could have had more humor had Woody played the playwright himself. Not that Cusack does a bad job, he is just not as funny as Woody is. And Jennifer Tilly gets a bit over the top at times playing the bimbo chanteuse Olive O'Neal. She tries just a shade too hard to sound completely stupid at times. However, much of the time she does perfectly well. That said, I loved Dianne Wiest and Chazz Palminteri in this picture. They seemed to have a handle on their roles a bit better than the rest of the cast. All in all this picture earns about 7 and a half stars (out of 10) from me. But it is not QUITE a classic Woody Allen picture as some have suggested, and as Woody himself would admit (I'll bet) if he were pinned down. And he has made a lot of real gems along the way.
Review of Bullets Over Broadway
