Play it again, Sam
This is such a Allen/Keaton movie, and oddly enough, it’s actually showing me what I’m missing right now. There is nobody in the world I feel really, really comfortable with in a similar way as Allen’s and Keaton’s characters are. Except for “Manhattan”, in which Diane Keaton’s character is a little crazier than usual, but normally, they are more perfect than Harry and Sally when it comes to the greatest character match-ups ever.
I miss 6451, did I already mention that?
Diane Keaton looks as good as ever, and for the first time, I realize that she’s actually pretty. Her hair style is weird, but strangely suits her (more than any other I have seen her in) and the classic somewhat-60s-style is amazingly wonderful for her. White feminine shirts, a stylish hat… I’m not sure if I prefer Annie’s masculine blazers or her comparably boring and old-fashioned but awfully elegant black coat? (Personally, I love both blazers and coats – but they always look somewhat feminine, I suppose. And I need to lose weight to fit into my coat.)
Story-wise, this is a very Woody Allen-ish film, like a foreboding of all of his other work (so many references to other movies!), but I can see how Allen is still young. He still has dreams, it’s a quite clichéd, typical story, in its setting merely a bad reference to “Casablanca”. But for the first time, Woody Allen is actually trying do something right instead of becoming the delightful relationship asshole he is in most of his other films. In that respect, this is perhaps not his funniest movie, but it’s one of the sweetest ones. Its bittersweet end reminds me a whole lot of “Manhattan”’s last scene, and I wonder if I ever will be able to re-enact a scene from my favorite movie. “To be or not to be…” better not. XD