Bananas (1971)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Alexander D

  
  Though BANANAS is funny, it couldn't be made today. From the very opening scene in which a Central American television reporter informs us that we are about to see their president publicly assassinated, it is clear that it would be considered mocking toward Latin American… More
  Though BANANAS is funny, it couldn't be made today. From the very opening scene in which a Central American television reporter informs us that we are about to see their president publicly assassinated, it is clear that it would be considered mocking toward Latin American nations. BANANAS isn't your typical Woody Allen comedy, either. This being a very early film for Allen as director, we can use this film to see reason as to why Allen uses little music and simplistic black-and-white title sequences in most of his movies. The odd placements of pieces such as Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" make it seem more like a Mel Brooks film; and the colorful, cartoon-y title sequence looks like it came from an kids' movie.

• Jonathan H

  
  The popular conception of the arc that Woody Allen films have taken over the past 30 odd years is that it goes from silly to serious. It is certainly true that his early films (this film, What's Up, Tiger Lily? and Take The Money and Run, for instance) are faster, sillier, and… More
  The popular conception of the arc that Woody Allen films have taken over the past 30 odd years is that it goes from silly to serious. It is certainly true that his early films (this film, What's Up, Tiger Lily? and Take The Money and Run, for instance) are faster, sillier, and imbued with a heavy dose of slapstick, whereas his tragicomedies such as the brilliant Crimes and Misdemeanors are more thoughtful and analytical. Because I, like a lot of people, started watching Allen's later works first, the vast majority of Bananas feels more like a Jim Abrahams/David Zucker collaboration than that of one of the most observantly humanistic directors in film history. There are tons of gags (some work, some don't) and I haven't seen such a commitment to physical comedy since Leslie Nielsen brought Lt. Frank Drebin to the big screen. That's not to say that there aren't some gems (the opening scene where ABC's Wide World of Sports provides coverage of an assassination attempt on the President of the fictitious town of San Marcos is brash, bold, and dazzling -- excellently showcasing the seeds of a budding auteur). Ultimately though, it appears as if Allen, in 1971, was perhaps too dependent on his onslaught of jokes and sight gags and he didn't yet trust himself as a filmmaker. This film is manic and hyperactive (it is called Bananas, after all) but worst of all, it's impatient and overly eager to squeeze in as much "comedy" as possible, instead of trusting its material and letting the setup deliver the punchline.

• Greg S

  
  Trying to get over his breakup with Lousie Lasser, nebbish Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) winds up in the fictional banana republic of San Marcos, eventually (and reluctantly) rising to the position of El Presidente. From the opning scene (with Howard Cossell covering the political… More
  Trying to get over his breakup with Lousie Lasser, nebbish Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) winds up in the fictional banana republic of San Marcos, eventually (and reluctantly) rising to the position of El Presidente. From the opning scene (with Howard Cossell covering the political assassination of San Marcos' ex-Presidente for "Wide World of Sports") it's apparent that Allen's out to take the audience on an anarchic, any-gag-for-a-laugh ride that results in one of his most consistent series of chuckles.

• Jennifer X

  
  Comparable to Sleeper but less funny. Still, I liked it.

• xGary X

  
  One of Allens "early funny ones" that he has treated with such disdain for the past two decades. Well excuse me for prefering to laugh at funny jokes, rather than listen to an absurdly wealthy and inexplicably well respected kiddy fiddler whinge about his… More
  One of Allens "early funny ones" that he has treated with such disdain for the past two decades. Well excuse me for prefering to laugh at funny jokes, rather than listen to an absurdly wealthy and inexplicably well respected kiddy fiddler whinge about his "problems".

• Michael G

  
  I haven't seen it in a while but I remember liking it.

• Daniel P

  
  Woody Allen's second film as Director/Writer/Star is essentially an 82 minute collection of sketches loosely linked to the unlikely story of Mellish (Allen) becoming the leader of a fictitious Latin American country. It's the gags that count here, and many are wonderfully… More
  Woody Allen's second film as Director/Writer/Star is essentially an 82 minute collection of sketches loosely linked to the unlikely story of Mellish (Allen) becoming the leader of a fictitious Latin American country. It's the gags that count here, and many are wonderfully funny; some are the result of a witty one-liner, an ironic observation, some are <i>Airplane</i>-esque slapstick, and the hit to miss ratio is very high. The influence the film has had even on today's television and film is still apparent, and thus for all its lack of substance (Woody Allen admitted the film has the structure of a cartoon, and <i>Bananas</i> is generally considered a minor Allen film) its importance cannot be underestimated.

• Marcus W

  
  It's a romance crossed with South American revolution in classic Woody Allen style. Allen plays himself, but what raises it is the high gag rate. Be it script, sight or physical, they come thick and fast. Bottom line, it's Woody Allen and everything that implies.

• Tom S

  
  I've seen most of this on TV, but not the beginning. I need to.

Read all 9 featured audience ratings