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Plot Summary
Woody Allen's wonderful comedy was his first film with Diane Keaton, a relationship that would eventually bring them both Oscar ("Annie Hall"). Allen plays Allen, a fanatical movie buff with an outrageous recurring hallucination: Humphrey Bogart offering tips on how to make it with the ladies. His married friends Dick and Linda (Tony Roberts and Diane Keaton) fix him up with several eligible young ladies, but his self-confidence is so weak that he's a total failure with them all. Eventually, Allen discovers that there is one woman he's himself with: Linda, his best friend's wife. The final scene is a terrific takeoff on "Casablanca's" classic ending, complete with roaring plane propellers, heavy fog and Bogart-style trenchcoats.
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
97%- Reviews Counted: 33
- Fresh: 32
- Rotten: 1
- Average Rating: 7.4/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Maybe the movie has too much coherence, and the plot is too predictable; that's a weakness of films based on well-made Broadway plays. Still, that's hardly a serious complaint about something as funny as Play It Again, Sam."
Fresh: The working out of the parallels with Casablanca are masterly, and there are plenty of good sight gags and one-liners.
Fresh: This is very much one of Allen's earlier, funnier films.
Customer Reviews
Darvon & apple juice are fantastic together!
This Humphrey Bogart Casablanca theme goes well with the films location of San Francisco. Released in the theaters May 4, 1972.The subject matter is light in nature and the movie itself feels like young Woody Allen was trying to make something everyone could sink their teeth into, and the sweet soundtrack is a testament to that fact I would gather. FAVORITE LINES: Dick Christie : Maybe you could get her into bed. Allan Felix: I couldn't even get her into a chair!
The Golden Age of Woody Allen
OK- I am actually afraid to dissect a Woody Allen film or otherwise explain why it works so well. In Annie Hall there is a scene where Woody does something we'd all like to do- lambast a pompous media professor who obviously knows squat about cinema.
So, here I am- a shy jewish writer who needs an ego boost. Maybe I should seek advice from the spirit of George Bernard Shaw.
OK, here goes. Woody's character is well known to all. He is Micky Mouse, Chaplin's Little Tramp, Charlie Brown --the list goes on. Woody is the soul with a big heart, a bewitched ego, and undiscovered courage. Unlike Jerry Lewis' schlamiel, Woody has a touch of debauchery in his britches and a take on life that only a mother and Franz Kafka could love. You don't have to be Jewish to love Woody Allen, but it couldn't hurt.
I have no idea how Woody's films play in Middle America. Frankly I don't care. Me- I'm a Brooklyn born New Yorker and Woody's personna is as sweet as an overdone UBet egg cream and as tragic as the destruction of Ebbits Field. He is the Jewish John Doe. He makes it acceptable and even lovable to be an awkward, inexperienced man trying to get on with life in good faith.
"Play it again" is a classic comedy. Why? Don't ask. Rent this film. Nuff said.
Classic Allen
This is definitely one of my favorite Woody Allen films. It kept me laughing all the way through as only a Woody Allen flick can. Two thumbs up!!
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