Woody’s funniest, indeed, pound for pound this movie may have more laughs packed into it than any other film ever made. That includes Duck Soup, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Airplane!, all the others. Also — you can still see Woody perfecting his film persona here, but still heavily cribbing from Groucho, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Bob Hope and, once or twice, Chico. Even Diane Keaton pulls out a few Groucho moments. This is meant as a compliment. Anyway, it’s insane fun even if you don’t know anything about Russian literature, which I certainly didn’t when I first saw this at the age of 11. Wheat! I’m dead they’re talkin’ about wheat!!
Related Posts
Welcome
Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.