Woodier

A few days ago I wrote a bit on Marion Meade's The Unruly Life Of Woody Allen. The book was disappointing in that so much time was spent on his personal life, especially his relationships with Mia Farrow and Soon-Yi Previn. I suppose the title should have given it away. It's probably the raison d'etre of the book, but that stuff holds little interest for me. (It was interesting, though, how she discussed other Woody books and said they were whitewashes.) I read her bio of Buster Keaton, Cut To The Chase, years ago, and it has a similar problem, so I guess that's what she does.

At least she goes through Woody's entire show biz career (up to the 2000 publication date) with behind-the-scenes explanations of how he got to various points in his career. (And this is a guy who was making a living writing comedy as a teenager. By the way, she also spends equal amounts of time on all of Keaton's even longer show biz life, but that doesn't work, since he had one decade where he did almost all his best work.)

It was interesting to read her straightforward judgments of Woody's work, but she'd often make claims that gave me pause. For instance, in discussing Woody's famous monologue "The Moose," she's convinced the Berkowitzes are dressed in separate moose suits, when it's quite clear (and comically correct) that the couple are in one moose suit. Or discussing the TV version of Don't Drink The Water, she says Michael J. Fox plays Woody's son, when a glance at the cast list will tell you his character is not related. Or she'll claim John Cusack, though "a strapping six feet two inches [who bears] no resemblance to Woody" pulled off "an amazing transformation" in his "convincing impersonation of Woody" in Bullets Over Broadway. Anyone who knows Cusack knows that playing comic underdogs is practically his specialty.

PS Throughout the book Meade presents the reaction to Woody's work and his private life. When it comes to the Soon-Yi story, we get this:

In comparison to the sick, racist jokes that were posted on the Internet ("What do Woody Allen and Kodak Film have in common?"), the gags of late-night television monologists sounded tame.

I don't care if it's sick and racist, you can't just quote the set-up. Quote the whole thing and let the reader decide. (The punchline is they both come in a little yellow box.)