Main Cast: Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Helen Hunt, Elizabeth Berkley, John Schuck
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Writer and director Woody Allen returns to the Manhattan of the past with this romantic comedy set in 1940, the era of fedora hats and gumshoe detectives. Allen stars as C.W. Briggs, an insurance investigator whose razor-sharp instincts have just led to the successful conclusion of another case, the recovery of a stolen Picasso. While he's a valued employee, Briggs is under fire from efficiency expert Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt) for his antiquated attitudes and refusal to accept modern crime-solving techniques such as fingerprinting. C.W. claims he puts himself directly into the criminal mind, a skill that will do him no good when he and Betty Ann are hypnotized at a Rainbow Room gathering one night by the magician Volton (David Ogden Stiers). As a parlor trick to entertain their co-workers, Volton makes C.W. and Betty Ann believe they're a couple that's deeply in love. But the performer secretly keeps up the ruse after the party's over, calling C.W. to whisper a magic code word and ordering the detective to rob wealthy homes with security systems that C.W. himself has designed. With no memory of his thieving activities, a frustrated C.W. can't solve the high-profile jewel burglaries, while he and Betty Ann struggle with their odd new attraction for each other, made more complicated by the fact that Betty Ann is romantically involved with their boss (Dan Aykroyd). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Brian Markinson - Al; Wallace Shawn - George Bond; Kaili Vernoff - Rosie; Maurice Sonnenberg - Office Worker; John Doumanian - Office Worker; Charlize Theron - Laura Kensington; Peter Gerety - Ned; Kevin Cahoon - Lunch Delivery Man; Philip Levy - Rocky's Waiter; Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks - Rainbow Room All Star; Howard Alden - Rainbow Room All Star; Ted Sommer - Rainbow Room All Star; Randy Sandke - Rainbow Room All Star; Peter Ecklund - Rainbow Room All Star; Joel Helleny - Rainbow Room All Star; Chuck Wilson - Rainbow Room All Star; Ray Beckenstein - Rainbow Room All Star; Lawrence Feldman - Rainbow Room All Star; Ken Peplowski - Rainbow Room All Star; Dick Hyman - Band Leader; Carole Bayeux - Voltan's Assistant; Kenneth Edelson - Voltan's Participants; Brian McConnachie - Voltan's Participants; Judy Gold - Voltan's Participants; Herb Lovelle - Night Guard; Carmen - Rose Kensington; Patrick Horgan - Kensington Guest; Howard Erskine - Kensington Guest; Ira Wheeler - Kensington Guest; Tina Sloan - Kensington Guest; Ramsey Faragallah - Fingerprint Detective; Bob Dorian - Mike; Arthur Nascarella - Tom; Trude Klein - Kensington Maid; Irwin Corey - Charlie; Michael Mulheren - Herb Coopersmith; Peter Linari - Joe Coopersmith; Ray Garvey - Police Station Cop; Bruce Brown - Radio Announcer; Dan Moran - Street Contact; David Ogden Stiers - Voltan; John Tormey - Sam
Credit
Juliet Taylor - Casting, Laura Rosenthal - Casting, Helen Robin - Co-producer, Suzanne McCabe - Costume Designer, Woody Allen - Director, Alisa Lepselter - Editor, Santo Loquasto - Production Designer, Zhao Fei - Cinematographer, Letty Aronson - Producer, Woody Allen - Screenwriter, Charles H. Joffe - Co-Executive Producer, Jack Rollins - Co-Executive Producer
