christopher-underwood Set in 20s New York and featuring many great Gershwin songs, Woody Allen, without himself appearing, tells the story of a young aspiring playwright and a bunch of rather pretentious actors, contriving to put on a play in an old Broadway theatre. There is much fun to be had with the notion of man vs man the artist and indeed art and life itself and the whole is very funny with excellent performances. Dianne West is great as the old dame who one way or another will have her way and Jennifer Tilly fantastic as the gangster's moll, would be actress. Tracy Ullman is surely at her very best and least annoying and if John Cusack struggles here and there it must be because he has the unenviable task of playing Allen. Chazz Palminteri's role is pivotal as he gradually insinuates himself into centre stage, without any interruption to his extremely violent day job, of course. Its a few years since I last saw this and I had forgotten how much location shooting there is which ensures the film does not become bogged down within the admittedly attractive theatrical setting.

merklekranz "Bullets Over Broadway" doesn't work for the same reason other Woody Allen comedies he's written but not starred in don't work. It's very simple, having someone else playing a character that has all the Woody insecurities and mannerisms leaves one wishing for Allen to be playing the part, and feeling cheated that he isn't in the film. Such is the case with John Cusack's playwright character. What you get is a Woody Allen clone that simply can't deliver the comedy intended by Allen. The cast is game, but fine comedians Jennifer Tilly, Jack Warden, and Rob Reiner, don't deliver enough chuckles to overcome the lack of Woody Allen playing the part he obviously was meant to play. - MERK

lasttimeisaw As Woody Allen's MIDNIGHT IN Paris (2011, a 6/10) doesn't impress me much and his latest Italian carol TO ROME WITH LOVE (2012) gets horrifying feedbacks, so I fumble around his earlier oeuvre, thanks to his prolific filmography, thus comes BULLETS OVER Broadway (a 7 Oscar nomination receiver in 1994) courtesy of one simple criterion, more often than not, films in which Woody is not starred are much better than in which he is both the director/writer and the actor.I have only watched a handful of Woody's films, but BULLETS OVER Broadway could easily sit in the top row of any years-best list (for me, it just misses my top 10 film in 1994, which is an ultra-competitive year for films, but Cusack, Wiest, Tilly and Palminteri all crack into my top 10 acting rankings). Wiest and Tilly, obtained two Oscar nominations and Wiest was the final winner, who is divinely lofty and my pick as well, she is simply amazing in her delivering of the repetitive "don't speak" lines and the voice warm-up scenes before the final premier. Meanwhile Tilly is plainly acting herself (being slightly amusing and largely annoying), this is an exact example of the disparagement between a bona fide actress and an one-off sensation (Palminteri's Oscar nomination may also belong to be the latter unfortunately), notwithstanding the fact that most acting laborers will never even procure such an opportunity, for instance John Cusack, who is playing Woody Allen in the film and is reliably superb but regrettably snubbed again (after THE GRIFTERS 1990, a 7/10). Speaking of the film, the script has Woody's distinctive bourgeoisie and artist self-mockery in it and the genre mash-up of gangster comedy and a Broadway playwright trapped in his writer's block works adroitly well, although the shooting shots are not Woody's strong suit and the diamond-in-the-rough deployment is over-simplified (maybe there is just no reason beyond it). But on the whole, the witty conversations will always strike a chord if you are an ordinary man with a highbrow heart, and in the final analysis, Diane Wiest alone is worth the time.

kgdakotafan This was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. The only other Woody Allen movie I've seen is "Annie Hall", and I liked this so much more! The reason I wanted to see this movie was because Jennifer Tilly stars in it; furthermore, she was nominated for an Oscar because of her performance in it. In the middle of this crime/comedy, I realized why. I predicted that the mobster would shoot her because she wasn't as good as the understudy in the play that she was forced to be casted in because her boyfriend, the mobster (Joe Viterelli) was funding the production for an aspiring and talented writer who had recently made flops because as he claims "I wasn't able to direct them." This play he was able to direct. It's well-known that actors and actresses who play characters who die in film are more likely to be nominated or to win an Oscar. While Jennifer Tilly played the stupid moll, mobster's girlfriend well, her death should have been the addition that made her win. Unfortunately, Diane Wiest won in a very overacted performance. This movie is hysterical, and makes you realize that art can come from the most unexpected of places10/10