Woody Allen as Rose manages a rag tag group of talent. The sort of talents his clients have are humorous in a young-Woody-Allen-movie kind of way. Mia Farrow impressed me with her attitude and accent. Also with the big hair and sun glasses she was hardly recognizable. This was a very different character she played from the few other performances I’ve seen from her. Forte, as a lounge singer making a come back, plays his part as a vulnerable man. He does a good job, especially in scenes with Allen, but definitely falls into the background as a supporting character. The shaky romance between Allen and Farrow is really the focus of the story. I happen to like Woody Allen’s neebish, neurotic line delivery that he is known for. In this movie he’s the same as usual. However, he has written a lot of good jokes (many of which sound fresh) and gags (I couldn’t help but laugh at the leaking helium scene) for this picture. The black and white cinematography is artistically done. There are references to The Bicycle Thief with an Italian fortune teller from the old world still holding counsel. In fact, a whole bunch of Italian culture is interjected into this story. This includes the lounge singing and an Italian mother of two mafia hit men putting a price on Danny Rose’s head for a family embarrassment. The movie plays something like a combination of Lenny and The Godfather, but of course it has Woody Allen’s touch of comedy and awkward romance.