For the sake of this review, let everyone dispense with any commentary on the private life of Woody Allen. Yes, there is controversy there, but first, I do not know all the real details and, secondly, my concern is the artistic work of one of America’s great directors and I do not want anything else to cloud my judgement.
Allen, before he became a director of films, was first a television comedy screenwriter, a stand-up comic, a film screenwriter, an actor, and finally, one of America’s great directing talents. His productions are one of those all-inclusive auteur films where, in most of his films, he wrote, acted and directed them. At the start of the 70s, before he became a serious filmmaker, he made what was then considered slapstick, all-out comedies. One of the best of these was his satirical take on a dystopian future, “Sleeper”.
The plot calls for Woody to play himself as one Miles Monroe, who in 1973 went into the hospital for a minor operation that went terribly wrong, causing the 1973 doctors to place his body, while still alive, into cryopreservation (the process of freezing vital organs for an extended period). When he is finally brought back to life, 200 years have passed, and the United States has turned into an inept version of Orwell’s Big Brother, being a totalitarian police state. He is brought back to life by the resistance to this state, who believe that since he never existed in their world, he is best able to sabotage the inner sanctum of the cruel rulers. Well, Miles is a weak, nerdish coward, so he is not too happy about this situation. From there the plot moves very fast, entrapping Miles against his will into the heart of the evil empire’s main headquarters. Along the way, he drags with him a dipsy air-head played by the delightful Diane Keaton, who serves as a sort of love interest for Miles and a wonderful foil for Allen’s non-stop gags sprinkled throughout the film.
Even though it is Woody’s more serious movies that have enlivened his reputation as one of cinema’s great directors, I still believe it takes great talent to make a truly funny movie, and, “Sleeper” is hilarious from start to finish. The movie is loaded with almost as many jokes as the best Marx Brothers films, and the beauty of it is that almost all the jokes and gags work. I caught myself laughing out loud numerous times while watching the movie. There are some especially priceless scenes, from Woody’s comments on famous historical figures, which may be a bit dated for anybody who does not know who Howard Cosell is, to the aftereffects of his use of the orgasmatron, which is a large cylinder that uses future technology to rapidly induce orgasms. Woody jovially states that in his time his left hand did the same job even better.
Most of the running time of the movie has the style and feel of old-fashioned slapstick comedy from the silent era. The movie reminded me of some of the best works by Buster Keaton and especially Charlie Chaplin. The soundtrack is in the Dixieland style jazz groove loved by Woody that greatly enhances the movie’s rapid pace and its slapstick action.
There is one very funny extended scene where Woody must pretend to be a robot house servant who is eventually returned by Keaton (who believes he is a robot), to have his head replaced with something more attractive. This is a nice play on the actual romantic relationship that Keaton and Woody had at the time they made the movie, as Keaton is very beautiful and Woody is, well, Woody. At the factory, he is sent to have his head replaced where he conflicts with the actual robots on the futuristic assembly line while trying to escape his decapitation. It is a scene that pays homage to Chaplin’s, “Modern Times”, and retains the superb humor of that film with its own futuristic version.
The movie pays homage to not only comic geniuses of the past, but also to the 1970’s science fiction craze of the time. For example, the same actor who is the voice of Hal in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001”, is the voice of the ruling dictator’s medical computer in this movie. Once I heard his voice, I knew immediately that there was something wrong with this computer. The comparison put a smile on my face.
“Sleeper”, when it first came out, was a comedic hit for Woody Allen and is one of his final “non-serious” movies that he made at the start of his directorial career. The movie pays homage to the great comedy geniuses of the past. With its clever dialogue and seemingly cheesy special effects, everything fits together in a delightful satirical mood, making it one of the great movie comedies.
1001 Movies before you die 