Quote Originally Posted by Nerd View Post
On BDR, yes Allen was terrific. I usually don't find faults with his acting at all. He is limited / one-dimensional but does very well. I thought Farrow's character was mediocre. I mean you don't see the usual complexities associated with Allen's female characters. And her turning away from Lou and turning into Allen was kind of contrived. And Allen was the only normal/sane/good person in the entire film which was kind of uninteresting for me. But thinking of it, it was celebration of a 'loser' which was neatly done. Though there were some jokes, the usual Allen wit, the intelligent humour was missing I thought. But yeah, certainly a film which I won't hesitate to revisit.
When have we seen him represent the 'under class' in a sympathetic manner, as presented here. And it's one of the roles where he's not throwing around elitists ideals and standard issue ticks.

In fact, it approaches the 'loser' as a victor in ways his other films refuses to do. Where his other films usually celebrate fantasy elitism of the loser, this one actually relishes the inherent goodness of a simplistic individual..

It's full of simple humanly feelings without stacking heavy handed meanings (now I like those kind of Allen films too), a refreshing departure. And expertly directed. His best direction of him as an actor.