Review of The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) by Joe M — 30 Jul 2007

Playing on the audience's perception of reality in film and escapism in movies, Woody Allen breaks down the fourth wall in what is one his more overlooked films.

It could be a criticism that the plot is a bit predictable. It's clear that the charming and seemingly perfect Tom Baxter will have an easy time wooing the despairing wife away from the macho, egotistical husband. You also can figure out that there will be more romantic struggles once the man who plays Baxter enters the scene. However, what makes the movie great comes not in the surprises in the story, but in the observations made between the developments. It's fun to watch the real world interact with the disgruntled characters waiting for Tom's return so they can finish their movie. It's also funny to see Baxter try to interact with society, limited by the conventions of his character as written for purposes of the story he came from. In fact, my only complaint was that this aspect played out too quickly. Some of the film's best and most interesting moments were from Jeff Daniels' Tom Baxter character exploring the world outside of film. If anyone can handle the "fish out of water" cliche well it's Woody Allen and it was a shame he let what could have been some really funny and magical moments be what-ifs?.