FEW ARTISTS IN ANY MEDIUM?Bowie, maybe, or Scorsese?enjoyed such a terrific'70s as Woody Allen. This box comprises every comedy that Allen wrote, directed and starred in from 1971-'79?save 1972's Play It Again, Sam and 1978's psychodrama Interiors, neither of which are included here. Bananas was his second auteurist venture (1969's Take The Money And Run being the first) and saw him fusing the wisecracks of Bob Hope and slapstick of Buster Keaton to create this immortal nebbish New Yorker who bears as much relation to the real Allen Konigsberg as does Dylan to Robert Zimmerman.
Woody Allen movies come so fast (one a year since 1969) they're easy to overlook, but even diehards will be disappointed by this 2001 attempt at neo-'40s screwball noir. Woody's insurance investigator looks tired, and Helen Hunt strains amusement at his wisecracks, and the attempts to create sexual tension will have Billy Wilder spinning in his grave. Allen's worst to date.
