Review of Bullets Over Broadway (1994) by Ryan C — 05 Sep 2013

If you were an artist - a TRUE artist - how far would you go to make sure your work was a success? Would you sell out? Would you let someone else take over? Would you kill? These questions are all pondered (and explored) in Woody Allen's 1994 comedy, "Bullets Over Broadway.".

The film stars John Cusack as David Shayne, a wanna-be playwright who, despite what he thinks, can't write great dialogue (but, man, can he write some good stage directions).

His current play, "Gods of Our Fathers," is his self-declared masterpiece. It's his only true work - a work, then, that must be directed by himself. But since he's a nobody, no one will back his movie. That is until a big-time mob boss, Nick Valenti (played by Joe Viterelli), comes along and puts up the money - with one minor caveat: His girl, Olive (played beautifully annoying by Jennifer Tilly), must have a role in the play. Would this be considered selling out for success?

David reluctantly agrees to the terms (it's the only way to get his play on). When Olive shows up for the first rehearsal, she's accompanied by her "bodyguard," Cheech (Chazz Palminteri) - and not Mr. Cheech, mind you -- just Cheech. Cheech is Valenti's trigger man; anytime someone's gotta sleep with the fishes, Cheech is the one to shoot them dead. As the rehearsals commence, Cheech sits quietly in the back of the theater. He grows incredibly tired of hearing the same pointless drivel spouted off by the cast, and one day he speaks up and makes his frustrations heard. The problem (for David) is that he has better ideas on how to make the play (finally) work. The cast perks up to Cheech's ideas, and David begins to unravel and question whether or not he is a true artist. He knows that Cheech's ideas are great and, at first, he resents him for having such brilliant ideas. But then David starts to seek out Cheech's help, and the two spend countless nights writing and talking (these are some of the strongest scenes in the movie). David, eventually, let's Cheech take over his play.

Things are moving along perfectly. Uh, that is until Olive opens her mouth. She's still a problem, but she's the boss's girl, so what can they do? As bad as she is, she's gotta keep the part. But what if she was somehow out of the way? During one performance she is unable to act, and her understudy plays the role. Everyone loves the understudy, and the play FINALLY feels like a real play. The bad news is Olive will return for the evening's performance -- or will she suffer some unfortunate "accident"? Discover for yourself.

"Bullets Over Broadway" is one of Woody's funniest movies. It comes on the heels of "Manhattan Murder Mystery," the left-over scraps from "Annie Hall." "Manhattan Murder Mystery" has laughs (and is a lot of fun), but it's not as strong of a movie as "Bullets Over Broadway.".

The cast of "Bullets Over Broadway" is damn-near perfect. Diane Wiest won the Oscar for her portrayal of Helen Sinclair, a once famous Broadway star, now suffering from alcoholism and bouts of I Used To Be Famous-ism, a la Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder's "Sunset Blvd.".

Chazz Palminteri is a joyous surprise as Cheech. You expect Cheech to be a dumb lug with an ugly mug, but he's packed with layers. When David picks his brain, he really begins to open up - and we discover that Cheech is the REAL artist here. And you can bet all your money on the Pass Line that Cheech would opt to save the works of Shakespeare over an actual person if a building was up in flames.