Main Cast: Alan Alda, Edward Norton, Woody Allen, Drew Barrymore, Goldie Hawn, Gaby Hoffmann, Julia Roberts, Natasha Lyonne
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Featuring a soundtrack filled with beloved "standard" songs such as "Just You, Just Me" and "My Baby Just Cares for Me," this musical comedy by Woody Allen concerns a polite and comfortably well-off group of people and their romantic difficulties. DJ (Natasha Lyonne), who narrates the picture, is the daughter of divorced couple Steffi (Goldie Hawn) and Joe (Woody Allen). Since the break-up, Steffi has married Bob (Alan Alda); their children, DJ's half-sister and half-brother, are Skyler (Drew Barrymore) and Scott (Lukas Haas). Skyler is about to be married to a likeable chap named Holden (Edward Norton). However, her mother Steffi, a wealthy liberal, cultivates people as "projects." Her latest project is ex-con Charles (Tim Roth), an extremely rude and crude customer. At family gatherings, everyone politely ignores his lapses in manners and good taste until Skyler postpones her wedding to have an affair with him. In a parallel storyline, we see that DJ is convinced that her unremarried dad would find a perfect mate in Von (Julia Roberts), and she contrives an elaborate (and successful) scheme to bring them together. In a fashion typical of '30s musicals, this movie completely transcends its fluffy story, using a cavalcade of ballads to send the characters on a chaotic, romantic merry-go-round from New York to Paris. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
Woody Allen has become a film genre unto himself, and his fans should appreciate this beautifully photographed musical-comedy a great deal. The cast is typically stellar, singing wonderful old songs while not going through the usual Allen-scripted arguments and angst. Those who have become a bit weary of Allen's schtick, however, will find nothing new here. The film has even less of a storyline than the director's other recent efforts, it's overlong, and the characters' dialogue all sounds the same -- one could swear that Edward Norton was practicing an Allen imitation for a stand-up routine. The songs are terrific, the movie looks great, but many viewers will continue to be amazed at how many name actors Allen can waste in one film. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Tom Warren - Art Director, Juliet Taylor - Casting, Graciela Daniele - Choreography, Helen Robin - Co-producer, Jeffrey Kurland - Costume Designer, Helen Robin - First Assistant Director, Woody Allen - Director, Susan E. Morse - Editor, Jean Doumanian - Executive Producer, Charles H. Joffe - Executive Producer, Jack Rollins - Executive Producer, Letty Aronson - Executive Producer, J.E. Beaucaire - Executive Producer, Dick Hyman - Songwriter, Santo Loquasto - Production Designer, Carlo Di Palma - Cinematographer, Robert Greenhut - Producer, Gary Alper - Sound/Sound Designer, Woody Allen - Screenwriter
The soundtrack for Woody Allen's first venture into musical comedy draws on standards of the 1930s and 1940s, performed by an all-star cast featuring Allen himself as well as Alan Alda, Goldie Hawn, Julia Roberts, Tim Roth, Edward Norton and Natalie Portman. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Woody Allen (Performer), Woody Allen (?), Dan Barrett (Trombone), Dick Hyman (Piano), Dick Hyman (Arranger), Dick Hyman (Celeste), Dick Hyman (Conductor), Dick Hyman (Producer), Dick Hyman (Vocal Arrangement), Ted Nash (Reeds), George Masso (Trombone), Derek Smith (Piano), Derek Smith (Celeste), Joe Wilder (Trumpet), Jeff Thompson (Producer), Vaneese Thomas (Vocals), Paul Evans (Vocals), Dave Carey (Percussion), Vince Giordano (String Bass), Sue Evans (Percussion), Dom Cortese (Accordion), Ethel Abelson (Violin), Gloria Agostini (Harp), Alan Alda (Vocals), Alan Alda (Performer), Lamar Alsop (Violin), Dennis Anderson (Reeds), Seymour Barab (Cello), Julien Barber (Viola), John Beal (String Bass), Raymond Beckenstein (Reeds), Emily Bindiger (Vocals), Vivian Cherry (Vocals), Cindy Cobitt (Vocals), Harold Coletta (Viola), Sid Cooper (Reeds), Al Dana (Vocals), Peter Dimitriades (Violin), Glenn Drewes (Trumpet), Peter Ecklund (Trumpet), Christine Faith (Vocals), Larry Farrell (Trombone), Paul Faulise (Trombone), Lawrence Feldman (Reeds), Barry Finclair (Violin), John Frosk (Trumpet), Vincent Bell (Banjo), Vincent Bell (Guitar), Winterton Garvey (Violin), Gerald Tarack (Violin), Joel Helleny (Trombone), Richard Hendrickson (Violin), Loris Holland (Synthesizer), Paul Ingraham (French Horn), Jack Jennings (Percussion), Timmy Jerome (Vocals), Kathryn Kienke (Violin), Olivia Koppell (Viola), Jack Lesberg (String Bass), Jesse Levine (Viola), Walter Levinsky (Recording Supervision), Jesse Levy (Cello), Charles Libove (Violin), Richard Locker (Cello), Jeff Lyons (Vocals), Carmel Malin (Violin), Carmel Malin (Coordination), Michael Mark (Vocals), Arlene Martell (Vocals), Arlene Martell (Vocal Coach), Helene Miles (Vocals), Helene Miles (Vocal Coordinator), Sharon Moe (French Horn), Eugene J. Moye (Cello), John Pintavalle (Violin), Jim Pugh (Trombone), Matthew Raimondi (Violin), Mike Renzi (Piano), Mike Renzi (Celeste), Julia Roberts (Vocals), Julia Roberts (Performer), Lenny Roberts (Vocals), Alvin Rogers (Violin), Annette Sanders (Vocals), Randy Sandke (Trumpet), Jim Saporito (Percussion), Jim Saporito (Conga), Fred Sherry (Cello), Todd Sommer (Drums), Byron Stripling (Trumpet), Donna Tecco (Violin), Terry Textor (Vocals), Ron Traxler (Drums), Yuval Waldman (Violin), Frank Wess (Flute), Frank Wess (Reeds), Masako Yanagita (Violin), Frederick Zlotkin (Cello), Amahid Ajemian (Violin), Wally Kane (Reeds), Anthony Posk (Violin), Deva Gray (Vocals), Paul Woodiel (Violin), Felix Wurman (Cello), Julius Ehrenwerth (Cello), Jon Gordon (Reeds), Jon Gordon (Sax (Alto)), Maura Giannini (Violin), Chuck Wilson (Reeds), Dominick Barbera (Assistant Engineer), Alva Hunt (Reeds), Alexander Vselensky (Violin), Stan Kurtis (Mandolin), Stan Kurtis (Violin), Richard Dombrowski (Art Direction), Caryn Briskin (Viola), Susan Follari (Viola), Daisy Prince (Vocals), Roy Yokelson (Producer), Roy Yokelson (Engineer), Roy Yokelson (Editing), Roy Yokelson (Mastering), Roy Yokelson (Mixing), Roger Shell (Cello), Peter Gordon (French Horn), John Clifford (Photography), Ashley H. Wilkinson (Vocals), Billy Crudup (Vocals), Billy Crudup (Performer), Goldie Hawn (?), Timothy Jerome (Performer), Christy Carlson Romano (Performer), Tim Roth (Vocals), Ed Norton (Vocals), Helen Miles Singers (Performer), Helen Miles Singers (?), Sanjeev Ramabhadran (Vocals), Patrick Crenshaw (Performer), Olivia Hayman (Vocals), Natasha Lyonne (Vocals), Diane Montalbine (Producer), Jeff Bergman (Producer), Eugene Briskin (Cello), Kevin DeSimone (Vocals)
Set in New York, Venice, and Paris, the film features a rarely used device of having songs sung by ordinary actors not known for their singing. It was among the more critically successful of Allen's later films. Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert once said that it was his favorite of all Allen's films, calling it simply "the best"[1].
The film was broadly liked. As of November 2009, it enjoys an 83% "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes.com.[2] In the New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote a strongly positive review, describing the film as "a delightful and witty compendium of the film maker's favorite things."[3]
"Hooray For Captain Spaulding/ Vive Le Capitaine Spaulding" - The Helen Miles Singers
"I'm Thru With Love" - Goldie Hawn
"Everyone Says I Love You" - The Helen Miles Singers
Songs seen on film
Most of the performers sing in their own voices, with two exceptions: Goldie Hawn, who was told by Allen to intentionally sing worse because she sang too well to be believable as a normal person just breaking into song, and Drew Barrymore, who convinced Woody Allen that her singing was too awful even for the "realistic singing voice" concept he was going for. Her voice was dubbed by Allen-regular Olivia Hayman.
This film was released in North America on 8 December 1996 on three screens. Its opening weekend gross was $131,678 ($43,893 per screen). It ended its North American run with $9,714,482.
Outside North America, the film earned an addition $16,104,765, boosting its global gross to $25,819,247.
Awards
The film was nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical at the Golden Globes.
