Bullets Over Broadway (1994) - My 100th Review!

Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: John Cusack

***

There are a lot of things about Bullets Over Broadway that I really like. Among them are the concept and the actors. Writer/Director Woody Allen on the other hand has never been one of my favorites and the execution of concept in this film or lack there of suggests why I've never been a fan.

Juxtiposing the mob with the average days in the life of ordinary people is a comedy that I've seen used to varying successes. Some Like it Hot could be the best example. Analyze this is a well done parody also and I would say more on the level of Bullets Over Broadway. Here, Allen takes a struggling play writer played by John Cusack who's inability to finance a show, turns to dirty money. Mob boss Nick Valenti (Joe Viterelli) fronts the money for the production under the one condition that his girl Olive (Jennifer Tilly) gets a part. Well, Olive can't act, but her struggles are masked by the all-star cast that David Shayne (Cusack) puts together. Its not really until this point that the story begins to take shape. If there's a criticism towards that aspect of the film its that while its not a long time, there's litte to invest in prior to that. In other words, the character introductions aren't all that entertaining. Why this is important to mention is that the characters eventually turn out great and I would have liked to have spent a little more time getting to know them right from the get-go.

As rehersals for David's play progress, things don't go right for a number of reasons. Olive can't act, Warner Purcell (Jim Broadbent) keeps getting fatter, David is falling for his star actress, Helen Sinclair (Dianne Weist in a well-deserved Oscar nominated performance) and ultimately, Olive's bodyguard Cheech (Chazz Palmentari) keeps interfering. And here lies the story. Cheech's interferring starts with simply insisting that Olive gets what she wants. This of course frustrates David... he quits like three times... but eventually, his suggestions become accepted by his cast and with no support, David is forced to make the changes and it turns out, Cheech really knows what he's talking about.

The biggest strength of this film is its ability to create laughs without telling jokes. Adding to that strength is that this is not done by using over the top charactachures. Cheech exhibits all the traits one would expect from a mobster. He's tough, intimidating, loyal to his boss by doing his job without complaint. So Allen raises a simple question of "...did you ever want to do anything else (like write)" to which Cheech responds he's been collection since he was fifteen. The idea that a lifer mobster can't possibly good at anything else is an interesting topic. So David and Cheech begin to work together transforming the script into what is universally considered brilliant. David gets all the credit thanks to Cheech's mafia rule of thumb... he's not a rat.

I wish there was more of this. While, I believe that Cheech's contribution to the play is by extension a big contribution to the film itself, I didn't get the impression that it was Allen's primary plot point. The story between Cheech and David had every element necessary to make a good movie. It had conflict, humor, story and resolution and it managed all of these elements well. Allen spent a significant amount of time on the relationships in the film, something that didn't always have conflict, humor, story and resolution... at least when it did, it wasn't as strong as the former story. Saving this leg of the story was the brilliant performance by Weist but even that didn't really make it a believable love story. Cusack too was very good but there was nothing fleshed out enough. Pair that with David's relationship with his girlfriend Ellen (Mary-Louise Parker, a Mary-Louise Parker not nearly as... we'll say pretty just to play it safe... as the one in Weeds) and I expected to at least have a compelling conflict. However, Davids admission to Ellen that he's in love with Helen Sinclair only prompts her to explain that she's having an affair with Sheldon Flender (Rob Reiner, who just showed up now and then so at least it was nice to learn why). It turned out though that love conquers all... in this case, a love that didn't appear to exist between David and Ellen but whatever... there had to be some kind of resolution.

There were some side relationships that garnered a chuckle. The overweight Jim Broadbent and Jennifer Tilly affair was humorous in theory but never really delivered, also the breifly covered relationship with Cheech and his girl Violet (Debi Mazar) was only funny because the two of them are very good actors and do well in delivering their lines in a humorous way. Perhaps Allen did well in writing a comedy but just didn't get the delivery of his lines from his cast. I doubt it. With the caliber of cast he employed, combined with the fact that on a few occasions, that cast did deliver those lines with great success, suggests that this film didn't quite reach its potential. What I think it could have used is a re-write with the help of Cheech who clearly has a knack for turning a few things inside out and really making something good, into something great.

My general thought that Woody Allen is an overrated filmmaker makes me want to slight this film a bit and call it average but overal, it was an entertaining movie throughout. It not being what I think and wish it could have been can't discredit what it actually is so ultimately its an above average film, with some good performances and some decent laughs.