Review of The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) by Stuart K — 23 Apr 2012

At the time, this was the second film Woody Allen had made in which he didn't appear, but this was also showing how confident he was as a writer and director. It's a touching and gentle comic fantasy with an original idea at the centre, it's a homage to the cinema of old and the films Woody grew up with as well, it's a joy to watch.

Set during the Great Depression in the 1930's, waitress Cecilia (Mia Farrow) gets by in her job and her loveless marriage to the abusive Monk (Danny Aiello). But Cecilia finds solace in going to the cinema, and there's a new film on called The Purple Rose of Cairo which she goes to see again and again, and it gets to the point where one of the characters in the film, Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels), notices Cecilia, and comes out of the screen to be with her, leaving the characters on screen clueless as to whats happened.

While Cecilia and Tom go out together, this strange occurence has the film's producer Raoul Hirsch (Alexander Cohen) and the star of the film Gil Shepherd (Daniels again), who plays Tom Baxter in the film, to come to New Jersey to sort the problem out, but then Cecilia falls for Gil as well.

It's a very odd but magical romantic fantasy, cut from similar cloth to what Woody would use to make Midnight in Paris (2011), it's a wonder Woody hasn't tried stuff like this more often, as it brings out a nostalgic side to him that works on film, but it has laughs and poignancy too, like the old classics used to have.