MJB784 I have always been a fan of Woody Allen. He has great sense of comic timing and his jokes are literal, fast, creative and most importantly timeless. My choice for his best joke after joke comedy is Love and Death. Part of it's appeal is that it takes places in revolutionary times, which makes it ageless already. Also, it deals with the two biggest subjects in life: Love and Death. Done as a spoof of the time it's set, the movie has the feel of Mel Brooks, but the timing of Woody Allen. I wouldn't call this his absolute best movie, but I will say it's his best comedy.

leonblackwood Review: For some unknown reason, I really enjoyed this weird and wacky movie about a man trying his utmost not to war. The humour is quirky and way over the top, but funny in a Month Python type of way. Diane Keaton is also pretty funny alongside Woody Allen who plots to kill Napoleon so Allen doesn't have to go into battle. Although the storyline is completely ridiculous, it's very well written and entertaining throughout. The womanising, fast talking Allen, isn't as annoying as he is in his latter projects, which is why this movie really does work. Basically, it's silly humour which people will either find completely stupid or a work of art for its originality and warped sense of humour. Watchable!Round-Up: This is some of Woody Allens best work, which I didn't find annoying or boring. It's a straight out comedy which doesn't focus on troubled relationships, like most of his work in his latter years. Although the movie looks dated, it's a timeless film which can be enjoyed nowadays, if you don't take the political subject personal. Diane Keaton played her role convincingly, even though the jokes were quite warped, but Allen always brings the best out of her. In all, if your a fan of Woody Allen's work then this has to be at the top of the pile, but if your not into his type of comedy then you will find this a bit too much. I'm yet to make a verdict of his work because I'm slowly going through his movies, but I did enjoy this film. Budget: $3million Worldwide Gross: $20millionI recommend this movie to people who are into there Woody Allen movies about a womaniser who plots to kill Napoleon so he doesn't have to go to war. 7/10

Marc Israel I can't imagine another director in their prime tackling the Russian mindset, their war and poverty with as much silly and reckless abandon all in the name of comedy without pushing viewers over the edge. Woody pontificates to the audience turning a spiritual ethos on its head and still making some sense while parodying Russian literature while translating the literal into the parlance of our times. Diane Keaton's funniest movie ever. She completely delivers line after line to keep the plot moving while Woody does his nervous comedy routine with music to warm the cossacks! The bits are all very straight forward even if the literature they are mocking is above my pay grade.

ShadeGrenade 'Love & Death' was Woody Allen's last film before his 'reinvention' as a more serious film-maker with 'Annie Hall' in 1977, and is an uproarious spoof of classic Russian literature such as 'War & Peace'. It opens with 'Boris' ( Allen ) in a cell awaiting execution. What circumstances brought him to this predicament? The film goes into flashback mode. Boris is in love with 'Sonja' ( Diane Keaton ), his beautiful cousin, but she prefers his brother 'Ivan', whom Boris claims cannot even write his own name in the ground with a stick. He is then caught up in the Napoleonic Wars ( "we kill Frenchmen, they kill Russians, before you know it, its Easter!" ), and against the odds, becomes a hero, seducing a beautiful countess ( Olga Georges-Picot ). He finally marries Sonja, but it is not a happy union, although she manages to make some wonderful dishes out of snow. Sonja then comes up with her grand master plan - the assassination of Napoleon Bonaparte...As with his other films of this period, most of the gags have a strong Marx Brothers flavour, along with anachronisms such as Boris and a gang of cheerleaders suddenly appearing on the battlefield, along with a hot-dog vendor. There is a duelling sequence which one can imagine might have worked for Harpo Marx. Keaton, as ever, is excellent. Her meaningless discussions with Boris over the futility of human existence are priceless. Boris is agnostic; "If only I could see a miracle...if only God would just cough!". My favourite moment is Boris quoting from the Bible: "Yay, I will walk through the valley in the shadow of death...come to think, I will RUN through through the valley in the shadow of death...you get out the valley quicker that way!". 'Love & Death' ends with the sight of Boris and the Grim Reaper dancing through trees. It is easy to see the scene now as symbolically bringing to a close this era of Woody Allen movies. He was smart to make the change when he did as the television show 'Saturday Night Live' was about to unleash a new wave of comedians - such as Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Dan Ackroyd - who went on to define 80's American film comedy.