Sleeper | | Cast : | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton | | Director : | Woody Allen | | Studio : | Mgm/Ua Studios | | Format : | Color, Widescreen, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | December 17, 1973 | | DVD Released Date : | September 07, 2004 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 09, 2005 | | Summary | One of Allen's Best | Content
 | I like the jazzy soundtrack to this movie. It's probably the first thing I think of when I think of Sleeper.
This seems pretty unique for an Allen film, probably because it's set in the distant future. It stands out quite a bit from his other films, even though Woody Allen was the kind of guy to do all kinds of movies. He did movies that took place during Castro's time and Napoleon's time, but even those films don't seem to be as unique as Sleeper.
Sleeper has more of a surreal feel to it, but that doesn't take away from how funny it is. Allen makes ridiculous jokes that match the ridiculous environment of the future, which has chairs that are too skinny, and hydrovac suits that are too big. Allen's jokes may be even more ridiculous than his environment, for instance, he doesn't understand why people who ate organic rice would be dead 200 years later, and he gets upset that he's labeled as a pervert for drinking a waterbed. Funny stuff. Watch this movie at least once, preferably multiple times. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 28, 2005 | | Summary | Did I mention that Woody Allen is a genius yet? | Content
| I don't think I've ever seen a great big-budget comedy. I will laugh much harder at a fake rubber rat being dragged across a hotel lobby and seeing its comic value, as I recall once in Faulty Towers, vs. a digital re-creation. Spielberg's "1941" really drove the point home as a failed comedy that relied on abundant technical effects --effects which had no benefit on the humor, except perhaps to the sensibilities of a hyperactive child.
I would argue that Woody Allen's "Sleeper" is the perfect balance of silliness and restrained filmmaking. I love the cheesy futuristic trappings in this film; the vacuu-formed props; the bubble transport cars; the hydroponic bus-sized vegetables; the robot pet dog. But most of all, the ubiquitous image of the white-haired "Big Brother"-style leader which you can spot on walls and TV projections. He's always there and looking out for everyone's best interests. No great eye-candy effects distract from the comedy, which actually owes less to science fiction and everything to the Marx Brothers, Hope, and Keaton. And that "hi-tech" Orgazmotron delivers, although Miles says that he prefers "manual"!
No need to go into any great depth here. Sleeper is a funny film and one that holds up for many viewings, which makes it worthy of purchase. Only occasionally it gets a bit shrill with the slapstick overload, but that's minor criticism. It's the pre-Annie Hall era, y'know. . . and you're supposed to be less intellectual if you like these, but I enjoy the whole arc of Allen's career, with various exceptions.
Get it. Watch it. It's great comedy and I'm never wrong. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 31, 2005 | | Summary | Woody Allen as we LOVED him ! ! ! | Content
| This film comes from that era of when Woody Allen was kind of a young, subversive college radical version of HAROLD LLOYD... mixing Silent Comedy era slapstick with a new type of self/social (but oddly not political) observant psychoanalytic humor. Of this era, this and TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN had to have been the two most hillarious films... and both, fortunately have held up with time ! ! ! Featuring a much more structured plot than Bananas and Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex (which were moreso mere vehicles for Allen's gags and not really a showcase for his full bodied talents as a film maker) SLEEPER brings back a sigh of meloncholy when you remember when it was hip to be Jewish, neurotic and radicalized (...and live in Greenberg's Village !) - - Oddly enough with its futuristic tale seems fresher than ever in the post cuberpunk era (minus the hair styles !)... the only difference is that often when the film laughs at the present, we laugh at the past... and when it makes fun of the future, we laugh with it. - - Overall, the movie is hillarious. Dianne Keaton plays a vain and self centered ditzy intellectual poet/socialite who transforms from hostage to partner in crime... and the film features one of the best closing lines of all time (Woody Allen's famous comparison bewteen sex and death...) no, I won't give it away here... all I can say is go out and watch it again... and again and again ! |
| Rating | | | Date | May 25, 2005 | | Summary | Watch Yourself With That Orgasmatron! | Content
| Woody Allen's slapstick film in which he plays Miles Monroe who was inadvertently put into cryogenic freeze in 1973 after an ulcer operation. In addition to gags galore, the film is a humorous satire on the woes of modernity and technology.
After being discovered from his robot disguise, Monroe joins a resistance movement that is opposed to the fascist regime in place ruled by only the dictator's nose. The regime is trying to reconstitute its leader from his nose and the resistance movement must stop their attempt. They are joined by a wealthy woman played by Diane Keaton.
This is one of Woody Allen's best early films with a lot of slapstick and baffoonery. The film is light but manages to include some witty social commentaries in the form of satire. A great film for all ages. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 08, 2005 | | Summary | Superior Parody, Physical Comedy, and 'Borrowings' | Content
| `Sleeper' is the only Woody Allen work where in addition to acting, writing, and directing, he also contributes to the music by playing clarinet in the band performing on the sound track. This is his fourth triple credit movie and I believe it may be one of his better movies before `Annie Hall', which is still two movies into the future. Unlike `Bananas' and `All you ever wanted to know about Sex...', it seems to have more and better satire than simple parody, although there is parody and homage to famous comedic bits aplenty here. The most memorable `quote' is when Allen apes the famous Marx brothers routine where Groucho thinks he is seeing himself in a floor length mirror, but he is actually seeing Harpo dressed to imitate Groucho and aping every move he makes to keep the mirror image illusion.
One piece of satire that has actually improved in value over the last 25 years is the conceit that everything that was once thought to be bad for you, such as smoking, is now actually believed to be good for you. All you have to do is think back to the fate of eggs, fats, potatoes, and wine to realize that this gag is perilously close to the truth in a lot of cases.
This movie does not have the long `guest star' list or even a lot of the Allen stock company regulars as we see in `All you ever wanted to know about Sex...' or `Bananas'. The only cameo of note is a brief simulated telecast by Howard Cosell. Virtually the entire movie is carried on the backs of Allen's performance and, to a much lesser extent, the fairly ordinary performance from Diane Keaton. Not much of the great work we will later see in `Annie Hall'. But then, Allen isn't writing for drama or character development. All we get is setup, setup, setup, gag, follow-up, setup, setup,...and so on. The whole story is a great big setup for comic effect.
The story is that Allen goes into the hospital in 1976 for a simple procedure and is put into a cryogenic sleep. His cryogenic capsule is discovered 200 years later by a team of scientists who decide to awaken him and set him off to help overthrow a dictator because there is no trace of his identity.
Early in the movie, Allen shows off how really very good he is at physical comedy, much in the tradition of Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, and the Marx brothers, although except for a bit here and there, it is never entirely clear that he is imitating any of these precursors.
If this owes anything to any other movie, it is probably `Fahrenheit 451', the film with Oskar Werner and Julie Christie made of the Ray Bradbury novel.
I am partial to Allen's later films, especially `Manhattan', `Stardust Memories', and `Hannah and Her Sisters', but I believe this is one of his two or three best before `Annie Hall', better than `Bananas' and `All you ever wanted to know about Sex...'.
Recommended for some great jokes and some really great physical gags.
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