Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Woody Allen

Writers (WGA):

Woody Allen (written by) and
Douglas McGrath (written by)

Release Date:

18 January 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

A killer comedy!

Plot:

In 1920s New York, a struggling playwright is forced to cast a mobster's talentless girlfriend in his latest drama in order to get it produced.

Plot Keywords:

Actress | Playwright | New York | Play | Bodyguard

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 15 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

John Cusack	...	David Shayne
Dianne Wiest	...	Helen Sinclair
Jennifer Tilly	...	Olive Neal
Chazz Palminteri	...	Cheech
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Ellen
Jack Warden	...	Julian Marx
Joe Viterelli	...	Nick Valenti
Rob Reiner	...	Sheldon Flender
Tracey Ullman	...	Eden Brent
Jim Broadbent	...	Warner Purcell
Harvey Fierstein	...	Sid Loomis
Stacey Nelkin	...	Rita
Malgorzata Zajaczkowska	...	Lili (as Margaret Sophie Stein)
Charles Cragin	...	Rifkin
Nina Sonja Peterson	...	Josette (as Nina Sonya Peterson)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-11 (cinema release) (1996) | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Netherlands:MG6 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

110th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

When David Shayne and Julian have just seen Olive for the first time and are discussing putting her in the play at Nick Valenti's apartment building, the hallway which they walk down was also used in the movie The Godfather (1972) when Lucca Brasi goes to visit the Tatalia family.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Helen gives David a gift on his birthday, she calls him a Scorpio, but two scenes later it is only September 24th. The Sun does not enter the sign of Scorpio until the end of October. David is a Virgo or a Libra.

Quotes:

Venus: Do you want the blue stuff or the green?
Olive: The imported, dummy.
Venus: Oh, you mean from the *clean* bathtub.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Ten (2007)

Soundtrack:

Poor Butterfly

Guys and Dolls

Woody Allen sends up the world of Broadway and the gangsters who love it in this Runyonesque comedy, one of his very best.

John Cusack is the Allen surrogate, a nebbish playwright who's struggling to remain true to his artistic vision amongst countless obstacles. Those obstacles include: a gangster's girlfriend (Jennifer Tilly) who Cusack is forced to cast in a lead role; her bodyguard (Chazz Palmienteri), who reveals quite a few dramatic instincts; a high-maintenance diva (Dianne Wiest, uproarious); a leading man who eats too much (Jim Broadbent); and a dithery actress very much in love with her dog (Tracy Ullman).

Because Allen sets his movie in a world he knows well (NY theatre), this feels like one of his strongest and most realized screenplays. The whole thing is a riot. Between Wiest, Tilly and Ullman, I still can't decide who's funniest.

Grade: A