Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

Why is this movie shot in black and white? I might Google it, but after watching it and spending a night to sleep on it, I don't have a clue.

Danny Rose (Woody Allen) is an agent, and all of his acts are pathetic. Anytime he represents an act that has any sort of potential, they immediately leave him at the earliest opportunity. And for the most part. Rose has come to terms with that.

Then he's representing Lou Canova (Nick Apollo Forte). What is he? A Lounge singer? But Canova's career has floundered, and he's thinking about seeking new representation. At the same time, he wants Rose to be his "beard" for his girl, Tina (Mia Farrow). Why? The Mafia, I guess. So Rose does that, ends up having the Mafia come after him, ends up falling in love with Tina, and so on.

This is all being told, by the way, by a group of guys, OG comedians, I guess, who are trying to tell their best Danny Rose stories? I'm not sure I get the framing technique here, or why it's necessary... but they all seem to genuinely like Rose. Maybe some of them were represented by him earlier in their careers, and they have a small bit of nostalgia for him...

Anyway, I noticed a number of reviewers focused on Tina's sunglasses. Yes, she's always wearing the big sunglasses to cover her face. She's got a big blonde bun wig, just like all the Mafia women seemed to wear, and my God, it even looks like Mia Farrow has an ass in this picture. That's a first. If her name wasn't in the credits, I'm not sure I'd even believe that Tina was played by Mia Farrow. She's as unrecognizable playing Tina as Charlize Thereon is in Monster.

Is this a bad movie? Not necessarily. It was, however, another one of those Woody Allen movies that I just didn't connect with.

Why in black and white? Well, for the obvious reasons, I guess. To call back a previous era, to highlight the nostalgia felt for Rose, and to capture the feel of a "memory," etc. I like all of those explanations, as well as the idea that it strengthens the film's cinematic quality... but all that being said, if it's shot in color, I don't think my opinion changes about it, for better or for worse.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

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