Review of Sleeper (2012) by Donovan D — 09 Apr 2008

When I think of a Woody Allen film, I immediately think of the sharp writing and dialogue upon which his films are built. Take films as disparate as Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Match Point and Interiors and the common denominator is the impressive skill Allen has with words. And to a degree its often his downfall: the Allen character's intellectualism can be so grating that even a fan like myself has been put off by the odd film. Sleeper then is an atypical film for Allen - even amongst his earlier work - for the simple reason that at least for the first half of this sci-fi comedy Allen relies on his skills in physical comedy to carry the plot, and does it largely without dialogue. The fact that the Allen character remains the same in appearance from film to film brings to mind the character of the Tramp in Chaplin's work, and it is Chaplin whom Allen most reminds me of in Sleeper. The section of the film with Allen pretending to be a robot is one of the best examples of Allen's ability as an actor - his expression when the robot next to him gets his head removed is priceless, and he does it all without saying a word. This is not an easy thing to pull of, yet Allen does it perfectly.

Special mention should go to Diane Keaton who is charismatic as the straight woman in a film that could so easily be dominated totally by Allen. There is a huge leap in her confidence as an actress from Play it Again, Sam to this film and it further points the way towards the achievement of Annie Hall.

For all the film's clever sci-fi satire and Allen's great performance, there are the odd jokes here and there miss the mark or come across as too silly to be genuinely hilarious. That said, Sleeper is such a wonderful example of Allen's comic skills it matters very little. Its not a film I would recommend to people as a starting point into Allen's oeuvre but for those familiar with his work, its a strong if atypical film from one of the greats.