BULLETS OVER BROADWAY
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1994 Ben Hoffman
Woody Allen is back and, in case you were wondering, he is as good as ever. For this double satire on gangsters and "The Theatre," he chose the 1920s which was the height of the gangsters a la Damon Runyon characters as well as Broadway's peak decade.
David Shayne (John Cusack) is a playwright seeking to get his work staged and directed by himself. A starry-eyed writer, filled with integrity, he is told by his potential producer, Julian Marx (Jack Warden), that a gangster, Nick Valenti (Joe Viterelli), is willing to be the play's angel provided his talentless showgirl moll, Olive (Jennifer Tilly), gets a juicy part in the play. In this case, she wants the role of the psychiatrist.
David, if he sets aside his principles and hires Olive, will be able to get Helen Sinclair (Dianne Wiest), a prima donna who likes to imbibe, as well as the money to hire Eden Brent (Tracey Ullman) and Warner Purcell (Jim Broadbent). No contest: David's principles lose.
Lest I run the risk of being a "Spoiler," allow me only to say that Cheech, (Chazz Palminteri), the gangster's lieutenant, is assigned to sit in at the rehearsals to see that Olive gets the part she wants, act as her bodyguard and to keep an eye on things. This turns into some of the funniest scenes in the movie. Palminteri, by the way, is the author of that excellent screenplay, A BRONX TALE, in which he played Sonny, a gangster.
Also helping things along are Rob Reiner, Mary-Louise Parker and Harvey Fierstein. A great cast.
Woody has done it again.
4 Bytes 4 Bytes = Absolutely must see. 3 Bytes = Too good to be missed. 2 Bytes = So so. 1 Byte = Save your money.
Ben Hoffman
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