One of the ten great film comedies

Rating: 10/10 (15 October 1998)

People either love or hate Woody Allen, but there are few people who do not love this beautiful film. When it appeared in 1977, this free-wheeling, bittersweet examination of relationships in the latter half of this century was the funniest film since 1959 (Some Like it Hot), and it has remained the only serious film which has managed to be as funny as the brightest nonsense comedies -- Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, Way Out West, To Be or Not to Be, The Lady Eve, Duck Soup. Allen never before or after managed to strike such a perfect balance between the serious and the outrageously comic: the marvelous Manhattan (1979) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) are not nearly as hilarious, nor are meant to be. A real gem among gems, and not to be missed.