Sick Product of a Sick System

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Blistering performances.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The Purple Rose of Cairo is written and directed by Woody Allen. It's a wonderful love letter to the golden age of Hollywood. Mia Farrow plays Cecilia, a softly spoken, introverted woman. Cecilia regularly visits her local to cinema to escape her repressive, abusive husband and her downbeat job, during depression era America.As she gets more and more obsessive with the fictional movie inside this film, entitled The Purple Rose of Cairo, she begins to project what it would be like to be part of that world. She watches the film so often, the fictional side character in the film Tom Baxter(Jeff Daniels) stops the film and addresses her directly from the screen. "You must really love this film" he exclaims. This is the pivotal moment of the film. This level of meta could quite easily lose it's audience. Thankfully Jeff Daniels sincere delivery of the line, and scene all together, completely sells this plot turn. So when he eventually escapes from the cinema screen it feels believable. The fact that the audience is readily accepting of this level of absurdity is a testament to Allen's fantastic writing. The film is also one of his best looking films. The set/costume design is excellent and makes the time period in the film look authentic.The film contains fantastic performances across the board. However it's Farrows and Daniels on screen chemistry that is the highlight of the film. They are both incredibly sweet and likable together without it ever coming across as feeling overblown. The Purple Rose of Cairo is a wonderfully crafted film, that in the hands of lesser skilled directors, could of easily gone awry. Allen manages to create an endearing and poignant film, that takes pleasure in it's retrospective look at classic Hollywood, and what makes cinema so magical. From the moment I saw the RKO title card at the beginning of the fictional film, I was instantly won over. This film is Woody Allen at his best.

The only Woody Allen that I hadn't seen. I was waiting for the opportunity to see it on a proper screen in a proper movie theater, with other people you know, like in the previous century. At the end I was convinced to see it in a friend's living room but in one of those super duper mega wide TV screens. What a delight! A movie about the love of something not quite real but that it becomes the more real thing in our lives. The transportation that Mia Farrow goes through while sitting in the movie theater brought tears to my eyes - my friend turned to me in disbelief "Are you weeping? He asked. Well yes, I was. I can't explain it. Have you seen the movie? Sometimes I felt I wanted to sit next to Mia Farrow in see the movie she's watching all the way through. Why not, Jeff Daniels, Mia Farrow, John Wood, Zoe Caldwell, Van Johnson, please! It's so much better in here than out here. You can bet I will see this again. Top notch.

Cecilia (Mia Farrow) is a mousy waitress during the Depression. Her husband Monk (Danny Aiello) is unemployed, heavily in gambling debts, brutally abusive and a womanizer. She goes to the movies to escape from the world. Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels) is a dashing archaeologist character from the film "The Purple Rose of Cairo." Cecilia is fired from her job. She goes to the cinema and Tom Baxter walks out of the screen. Hollywood is besides itself with news that Tom has escaped. Gil Shepherd (Jeff Daniels) who played the role is brought in to fix the situation.This is a great concept from Woody Allen. I do wish that Jeff Daniels could differentiate his two characters better. Tom Baxter should be more swashbuckling and heroic. He should be a fantasy character. The husband is also a bit too much. He should be dialed back a little and maybe he shouldn't be violent. Mia Farrow is great at being mousy. It's generally an inventive and engaging movie.

This was my first Woody Allen movie. I think there are 4 aspects I can judge a movie on. First one is directing. This movie was directed simple but very effective. In my opinion it is the best kind. The second thing is writing. First of all this is a very interesting concept to me. It deals very well with its themes. I like Woody Allens weird sense of humour but I don't understand what is he about. The third one is acting. This is the one of the first Jeff Daniels roles. He is very kind but nothing spectacular. Music was typical and cliché but I understand that that is the point. If you like movies about movies this is one good, interesting and short (82 minutes) movie you should check out.