SnoopyStyle In the late 20's NYC, idealistic playwright David Shayne (John Cusack) is trying to get his play on Broadway. He gets finance from ruthless gangster Nick Valenti but he has to cast Nick's talentless loud-mouthed girlfriend Olive Neal (Jennifer Tilly). He is horrified that he's whoring himself out. Her surprisingly-insightful escort Cheech (Chazz Palminteri), not Mr. Cheech, starts making great suggestions. David falls for aging leading star Helen Sinclair (Dianne Wiest) and cheats on his girlfriend Ellen (Mary-Louise Parker). Olive has an affair with leading man Warner Purcell (Jim Broadbent).It's an irreverent Woody Allen movie taking a sharp jab at the backstage world with a healthy dose of mob violence. There are some hilarious moments but I do want more. I keep thinking that the movie is on the verge of great madcap fun. This is a pretty good Woody movie just below some of his greats.

avik-basu1889 Woody Allen films are not for everyone. Not much happens in them, people keep on talking, there are very few overtly dramatic scenes and the films are generally always quirky. But the fact that he is a master director and a brilliantly artistic storyteller can't be denied. Although his style is very lighthearted, but in a Mozart- esque way, it is deceptively so. He can be hit or miss at times due to the immense rate at which he makes films, but when he is in form, he is absolutely marvellous. Bullets Over Broadway is an example of him being at the top of his form.Bullets Over Broadway is set in 1920s New York which clearly is an era that Allen is fascinated by as he explored it again in one of his subsequent films 'Midnight in Paris' although that was set in Paris. The script beautifully explores both the Broadway as well as the organised crime scene in New York during that time, but in a quintessentially Woody Allen-esque quirky , humorous way. It is the characters and ensemble that make this film fantastic. Every character is colourful, funny and also deep. The central theme that runs through the film is the dilemma that a true artist can experience when he is faced with a decision of picking one option between success or staying true to his/her artistic creations. Should an artist make any compromise just to ensure the success of his work, or should he keep his work uncontaminated even if it is at the cost of commercial failure? Allen also makes a subtle commentary about why we should accept who we are instead of trying to be something that we are not which will ultimately give us fulfillment. While all that might sound heavy, but the film tackles these issues in the most quirky, understated and hilarious manner possible.John Cusack plays the struggling playwright David who is the quintessential Woody Allen character that the director himself has played throughout his life and Cusack is good at it. David is paranoid, neurotic, insecure, slightly delusional and can be manipulated. The character of Helen Sinclair played brilliantly by Dianne Wiest seems clearly inspired by the character of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She is loud, over the top, at times cranky and also one who still lives in the past and can't let go of her memories. Olive Neal played by Jennifer Tilly arguably provides the most amount of laughs in the film. Tilly is absolutely fantastic as someone trying to be an actor who clearly isn't good at the craft. The character of Cheech played by Chazz Palminteri is thematically probably the most essential character in the context of the screenplay.Palminteri provides great range to the character and makes us like him even though he is a gangster. The ones mentioned along with other characters played by Tracey Ullman,Jim Broadbent,Joe Viterelli,Jack Warden,etc. make the film an extremely colourful experience.The script by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath is beautiful. It essentially captures the aura of the theatre scene in the 20s and the gangster angle serves as a masterful complementary element. The screenplay is witty, sharp and Allen's direction elevates the film to a higher level.Bullets Over Broadway is probably not my favourite Woody Allen film, but it has certainly become of my favourites of his films and that's saying a lot. Allen's style of storytelling is not too dramatic, but it has a serene quality about it that keeps you engaged and makes the film linger in the viewer's thoughts. Bullets Over Broadway is one of his best.

mother-war Woody at his best. A movie about artists - not only about writers ( but mostly about them ), but about any artist, who is trapped between his talent and the expectations that other people have about him. A movie about what it takes to make something perfect. I strongly consider John Cusack's ( David ) character and Chazz Palminteri's ( Cheech ) character as different sides of the same person - the bohemian, who sees in art just an excuse for meeting famous people and living like them and the real artist, for whom art and creating are only reasons to live. And the moral? I guess no one can say it better than David's girlfriend - one could not love an artist if he hasn't got enough dignity to be a man in the first place.

bobsgrock Woody Allen will always be remembered as a director who could create situations in which characters talk frequently and superbly. In this film, he puts together his spin on life and conversation with the setting of the 1920s Broadway background to create a memorable and sweet film about a group of people that we become so enamored with that they turn out to be more than characters; they become human beings on screen.A terrific cast bolsters this already fine story as we witness a young, idealistic writer/director of the stage (John Cusack) attempt to have his play unscathed by the actors. He soon casts a great Margo Channing-type legend (Dianne Weist), a wacky side-lady (Tracy Ullman), a great actor with an eating fetish and a mobster's girlfriend attempting to break into acting but doesn't quite have the chops. The key to the whole story is the character of the mobster's hit-man, played by Chazz Palmenteri who turns out to be the most theatrically sophisticated and wise of all the characters. Here, Allen shows that genius can come from the most unlikely of sources and also uses it to bring out a number of great comical scenes as well.I guess the best thing to say about this movie is how wonderful Woody Allen's writing is. By this time, he has gotten down the pacing and rhythm so perfectly that it truly is an art-form for him to write screenplays. And, as always in a Woody Allen movie, the actors are terrific and have great fun by playing the parts with gusto and joy. This is a much lighter effort than say, Husbands and Wives or Crimes and Misdemeanors, but it stays in the tradition of Allen able to mix together great dialogue, unique characters and a story that unfolds so easily and delightfully. A treasure unlike any other, Woody Allen creates a fun film one right after the other.