Sleeper, the 1973 comedy, marks Woody’s fifth turn behind the camera.

This is a better DVD transfer than his previous steamer, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex*. And, frankly, it’s a much better movie.

But that’s still not saying much. These early Woody Allen movies are way too frenetic for my tastes. It’s like watching Keystone Cops films. Slapstick doesn’t even begin to describe them.

This picture marks the start of his Diane Keaton (1946-) phase. It also continues his love of starting films with Dixieland jazz music. And for smoking. There’s somebody smoking in virtually every Woody Allen movie.

Sleeper is the story of a Woody Allen-like character named Miles Monroe who is put under for a minor operator in 1973 and discovered two hundred years later in a capsule in the woods and awakened. The country is American but a post-war America run by an oppressive government. (Sounds a lot like 2014 to me.) His existence has to be kept secret, however, because if those in power discovered him, he’d have to have his brain scrubbed.

After a bit, the scientists admit they defrosted his capsule to use him to penetrate the government in the Western District to get the lowdown on the Aries Project. In short, the scientists, knowing Woody’s character has no identify, no fingerprints on file, and no way to be traced, want him to aid the revolutionary movement against the government.

The humor really gets rolling when Continue reading →