The 1977 Woody Allen classic, we watched it a few years back, liked it very much, and we still do.
This film is, to be trite, very sweet and very funny. It is also on ocassion beautiful.
The humour in non-early Allen is rarely quickfire, and perhaps on only two or three ocassions is wild and lasting (the set up gags like the cousin driving). But throughout he keeps a high standard of constant clowning, there is a great anticipatory skill in this.
The characters are marvellously sketched and, if not immediately coming into our hearts, do so, creeping up over time. In many ways Allen's films are sadder than one remembers them being; they have uplifting moments, one remembers the beautiful parts, but ultimately the wholes can be rather wistful, verging on the melancholy.
Allen plays his traditional part excellently, but the real star is Diane Keaton. Beautiful, heavily influential in her fashion, and changeable in a way that strikes as so much more realistic than the traditional mono-characters. She makes this film a classic, and her partnership with Allen is a great success.
One that has to be seen, and once seen, will be loved. Then it should be seen again.
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