Movie Notes: Broadway Danny Rose

June 27th, 2009

= 4 stars

Starring Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte
Directed by Woody Allen

Synopsis

Danny Rose (Woody Allen) is a borscht-belt theatrical agent managing C-list singer Lou (Nick Apollo Forte), whose girlfriend (Mia Farrow) Tina gets everyone in trouble with the Mafia.

The Good

• Allen combines pre–Annie Hall comedy with the Manhattan black-and-white style — it works better than it should.
• The show-biz angle featuring questionable talent proves entertaining, especially overweight, Goomba-singer Lou, but along the way, we also meet the world’s worst ventriloquist and a man in a superhero suit.
• Mia Farrow is great as a Mafia moll, hidden behind sunglasses and blonde hair-do.
• A refreshing lack of self-consciousness: Allen drops the highbrow aping of Fellini and Bergman, and presents a simple story containing characters designed to evoke a smile.

The Bad

• Unnecessary entry point of a group of comedians recanting Danny Rose’s story at Carnegie’s Deli.
• Despite consistently great set-ups, the jokes never really explode into laugh-out loud funny.
• The final emotional payoff takes a while to become clear, but personally, felt bittersweet and too late.

Conclusion

Broadway Danny Rose is an interesting and surprisingly successful amalgam of several of Allen’s earlier films — the slapstick chases of Sleeper, the simplistic black-and-white of Manhattan, the freaks of Stardust Memories, plus Mia Farrow. While the film never becomes completely moving in its own right, it’s a surprisingly even, optimistic movie, and frankly, a minor miracle that such a mish-mash works as well as it does.

Next Woody Allen Movie: The Purple Rose Of Cairo
Previous Woody Allen Movie: Zelig

IMDB: Broadway Danny Rose
Wikipedia: Boradway Danny Rose
Rotten Tomatoes: Broadway Danny Rose 100%