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June 23, 2006
Don't Drink the Water
So who know that the lil play by Woody Allen was made into a movie in the 60s starring Jackie Gleason? And Woody had nothing to do with that flick and hated it so much that he made a made-for-tv movie to resucitate his screwball comedy.
Oddly enough, I rented the film without knowing it was made for tv. It showed up in Netflix recommendations after I rented Melinda and Melinda, and I decided to go for it because I have vague memories of being the Stage Manager and Sultan's Wife (nonspeaking role, due to my theatre teacher's belief that I couldn't act my way out of a paper bag) ten years ago during my senior year of high school. Yes, in fact it has been ten years. Dude, I'm old.
Anyway, it was a light-hearted affair and the reason the wife reminded me of Marge Simpson is because the actress is Marge Simpson. So that's what Julie Kavner looked like 12 years ago. And perhaps this tv movie is the reason the aforementioned theater teacher chose the play. At any rate, I had zero recollection of the daughter and the romantic subplot, so it was a pleasant 1.5 hrs. Not earth-shattering. No need to watch it again. But pleasant enough. Specially since it included watching Michael J. Fox falling in love with Blossom.
I think it might be time for me to watch Annie Hall again...I keep hoping to find another Allen film that grabs me like that one did. No luck yet, but I've only scratched the surface of his ouevre.
IMDB listing for the tv movie.
IMDB listing for the supposedly terrible Gleason version.
Posted by cj at June 23, 2006 09:26 PM