fine whine

Look around on the web and you discover many interesting things about Woody Allen's Purple rose of Cairo:

• It's supposedly Woody's favorite movie, of the ones he's made.
• It garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for "Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen", his fourth winless nomination since sharing the honors with Marshall Brickman for 1978's Annie Hall. He would win again the next year with Hannah and her sisters.
• It probably didn't make enough at the box office to cover its $15 million budget.
• Irving Berlin's "Cheek to cheek", the song that underscores the opening titles, was used in the soundtrack of one film in the 1980s. This one. It was used in ten films during the 1990s. It is from the movie Top hat, with Fred & Ginger, as seen at the end of Purple rose.
• Michael Keaton* was originally cast in Jeff Daniels's role. Woody fired him after seeing his early footage.

But those are just bits of trivia, facts and hearsay, and easily found ones at that. You'd do far better to actually watch the movie, an eminently enjoyable, whimsical romp through the escapist nature of cinema and the whole movie-going experience.

It's delightful and fun, startlingly so for a movie set against the bleak backdrop of the Great Depression. Having avoided reading anything about the plot before watching it, everything in Purple rose was a surprise for me, and I think I enjoyed it all the more for it. So I won't ruin the plot.

One thing I feel I must point out, however, is that while Woody does not appear in the film, even in a bit role (at least that I could see), Mia Farrow has mastered his nuances and cadences so well that her lines often sound as though he could be delivering them, except that they lack most of his neuroses. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just something noticeably odd. Mia does a fine job, and Jeff Daniels rises to the challenge of acting with her. Everybody does well, though, especially the ones onscreen.

I can't recommend this film highly enough. Grab some popcorn, if such is your inclination, kick back, and watch a wonderful movie.

* Keaton is of course better known for his portrayals of Batman, which I have also recently re-watched. His first turn in the rubber suit isn't all that bad, despite several telling signs that it is a product of the late 80s (Prince songs prominently figure in several scenes). It seemed to be a decent start for a franchise, if not a bit long on stylization and short on warmth. Unfortunately his return in 1992 was the beginning of the long downward trend of the franchise, with Burton given a freer hand for style and the unfortunate choice of two of the stranger villains, one of whom is as repulsive as he is implausible. Moreover I must wonder about the vehicle choices in the latter film: the police drive Chrysler K-cars (not know for their reliability or horsepower) and the same VW Jettas seem to appear noticeably many times, probably just repositioned and repainted on the tall but claustrophobic street sets.