MovieChat Forums > Play It Again, Sam (1972) Discussion > I dunno, it just wasn't funny

I dunno, it just wasn't funny

posted 18 years ago by jgroub
24 replies | jump to latest

I watched the first half hour of the movie. I just didn't find it funny. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of the Woodman. But this one just didn't do it for me. That scene with the hair dryer I just found to be not only completely unfunny, but also painful to watch. Likewise with the scene when the blind date comes into his apartment. I find that he wasn't doing that kind of slapsticky type humor well in this movie. I know there are tons of examples from other movies where he does do it well, but these attempts fell flat for me. They were too forced. Also, Tony Roberts' running gag with the phone numbers got very tired, very quickly.

I stopped watching right after they got to the Chinese restaurant because I was just bored with it. Right after when Roberts is leaving his phone number for the twelfth time, they have Woody showing how Chinese people eat rice. Again, that just wasn't funny. Too forced.

I really wanted to like this movie, but I didn't. Maybe I was in an un-Woody mood when I saw it. Can anyone tell me what's so great about this one without flaming me unmercifully? Try not to reference scenes after the Chinese restarurant, so I can understand. I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] piperian396 18 years ago

Ummmm, all that stuff you hated, those were all funny. Maybe this movie is just not your thing.

[–] jgroub 18 years ago

Well, yeah; that's sort of what I'm saying. It's a departure for Woody, I think, and not a good one, IMHO.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] piperian396 18 years ago

Its more of a return to the random sense of humor that made him popular. Its more like his early essays than his other movies. It probably would have been a lot better if he directed it it though (It might have been better than Love and Death).

[–] Milky_Joe 17 years ago

"Can anyone tell me what's so great about this one without flaming me unmercifully?"

Simply put, I can't tell you, but I'm not going to be rude either. If you didn't find his physical humour in the apartment funny (and I think it's as hilarious a display of physical comedy as I've ever seen and I loved it) then it's impossible to tell you what's so attractive about this film. Comedy is subjective. It'd be me telling you why red should be your favourite colour and that green was an awful choice. If it were a drama or a thriller, one could cite the editing, acting, score and cinematography as reasons to admire it but in a comedy, the laughs are what it's all about.

[–] jgroub 17 years ago

Well, that's right, I guess. Thanks for the kind reply.

Y'know, I saw Take the Money and Run recently, which I loved as a kid - hadn't seen it in a good 30 years - and it also didn't stand up for me either. Now, don't get me wrong, I did think it was funny, and I thought it was much funnier than this one, but it was also falling flat in places.

What I'm trying to say is, I guess I must have evolved past this kind of slapstick-y type humor, and grown more appreciative of the word-play and relationship-y type humor that he did later. So, as they say, "It's not him; it's me."

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] jawebster2000 9 years ago

Take the Money and Run made me a Woody Allen fan. He had me with the bank stick up when he was explaining to the teller that one of the words he wrote on the holdup note he slipped her was "gun", not "gub".

[–] jgroub 9 years ago

Oh, sure; that's a great scene. As is, off the top of my head, when he and his "cousins" walk into the house all shackled together. Or when he's singing, "Gonna Tell Miss Liza." Or when he's playing the cello in the marching band. Or when his parents are letting him operate. Wait, I think that's Bananas.

I think Bananas was his absolute best. And it's not that I'm laughing out loud throughout the whole thing. Yeah, there are definitely parts I'm laughing at. But I am sitting back and appreciating the sheer brilliance of the satirical writing throughout the whole thing. The entire courtroom scene is absolute genius, but I'm not dying on the floor of laughter while watching it.

Here, this movie - which, if you'll notice at the end of this thread, I just watched again after 9 years and had precisely the same reaction - is just all schtick. The clumsiness wears thin; very thin. The joke, if it can be called that, of leaving the telephone number with the service, is god-awful, and repeated at least three times more than he should have.

I did watch it through to the end this time, and I thought the Casablanca scene was very cleverly done. But there sure isn't a lot of meat here.

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] friend_of_harry_lime 17 years ago

It's important to watch the whole film to get the sense of it as a piece. The main point the film deals with how Alan is able to "just be himself" in order to find love, and you're dealing with the portion of the film that centers upon the "inept" Alan, not the one who emerges in the end with his selfless act, much like Rick in Casablanca, which is the whole point of the film.

Give it another chance, but also keep in mind that Woody didn't direct it.

[–] timmy_501 17 years ago

Watch the rest of it. It gets better as it goes.

This story is already over

[–] MOOVYZ 16 years ago

It's not just Woody. I saw this in a small community theater too. It was fantastic. They had a really nerdy guy, very much like Woody and a great Bogart. The writing is perfect when the timing is right.

"I think that boy's cheese slid off his cracker" The Green Mile

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sidmsdw 16 years ago

If the only comedies you've seen lately are of the Will Ferrell / Ben Stiller variety (i.e., relentlessly juvenile and vulgar) maybe you're just not used to a different approach. Cultures change and tastes evolve, maybe sometimes not for the better. It happens to the best of us.

[–] bookgirl13-1 16 years ago

I think that the movie was funny and sweet... but it was early Woody. I personally prefer the Annie Hall/Manhattan Woody a little bit more than this early slapstick Woody. I liked this movie a lot, but he was still evolving as a writer and developing the romantic sensibility that (in my opinion) would truly blossom in Annie Hall. To me, it feels like a lighter (but still sweet and enjoyable) version of some of his later, more complicated films. (Plus, he didn't direct, of course, so that makes it different too.) The great thing about the guy is that the trajectory of his filmmaking is a really interesting story and shows lots of growth - it's almost like dealing with different directors. Watching this one and seeing how he grew into the guy who made Manhattan and then the guy who made Match Point (all good, just completely different) is fascinating.

[–] JimBodge 16 years ago

The O.P. needs to see this film with an audience. Any comedy suffers when being watched alone. Laughter is infectious, and spreads through the group. The first time I saw GUFFMAN I was alone and said, "well that was amusing". The second time I was still watching in someone's living room - but with about 15 other people (It was a party) and we were on the floor in hysterics.

PLAY IT AGAIN SAM is a bit dated now (I remember it when it was new), but it is still a very funny movie. It pre-dates the possibility of home viewing.

As for the Woodman, in general I find the pre-ANNIE HALL pieces are still funny, but a bit dated. ANNIE HALL is genius, fully deserving all the praise and awards it garnered, and MANHATTAN and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS aren't far behind. I also love HANNAH, PURPLE ROSE, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY and a couple of others. Recently, he's showing new genius with MATCH POINT and the current VICKI CHRISTINA BARCELONA, but he really needs to watch himself.

[–] jgroub 15 years ago

"The O.P. needs to see this film with an audience."

I'd love to, along with Guffman, and a dozen other pictures, but where am I gonna see this in a theatre? And I don't even know 15 adults to call into my home who'll want to just sit around and watch a movie.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] patchofblue65 16 years ago

I love Play It Again Sam for a number of reasons. First of all, it gives a great glimpse of how San Francisco was in the early 70's. The hippie chicks with their long hair were beautiful. I found the whole movie funny and entertaining. No car chases or things getting blown up. It's one of my all time favorite Woody Allen movies -- Annie Hall being the one I love the most.

[–] jgroub 15 years ago

No, no, I've been around a lot longer than that! I've seen plenty of early Woody. This one just didn't do it for me.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] angelthman 15 years ago

It wasn't just about the slapstick (which I enjoyed.) There were great lines and gags in it. To me, this is the funniest movie ever made. Though I know comedy is subjective.

[–] Howlin Wolf 12 years ago

I love the dialogue more than the slapstick scenes...

If it didn't work for you, then it didn't work for you. Nothing kills humour faster than explaining a joke, so I don't see how that would help.

Born when she kissed me, died when she left me, lived whilst she loved me