Bananas [Paperback]

Woody Allen (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (January 1980)
• ISBN-10: 0394725867
• ISBN-13: 978-0394725864
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,393,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SCREWBALL ANTIWAR SATIRE.., February 28, 2004

By 

Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bananas (DVD)

From the outrageous name "Fielding Mellish" to the screwball humor in this MAD-magazine type antiwar satire, this is one for the Best of Woody pile. The film grabs you from the first gag, and never lets go. It is laugh-out-loud hillarious with whacky situational scenes as a simple NYC boy gets embroiled in a rebellion in a small South American country (the rebels did not have a good tailor though, but couldn't wait). I was surprised to see a very young pre-fame Sylvester Stallone in a minor side role as a subway crook. The denouement of the movie is somewhat of a let-down (it may be me) but that's no reason to miss out on this superb comedy.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a wonderful political/social satire---classic early Woody Allen......, September 11, 2007

By 

D. Pawl "Dani" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bananas (DVD)

I first saw BANANAS on the local Public Broadcasting channel in Seattle. It's honestly surprising to me that people don't talk more about this film. I happen to think that it's funny, enlightening and very intelligent. What's more, it has chilling parallels with the state of politically revolutionary and anti-American Latin American governments of today (and no, I am not "naming names"---that would only get me into hot water here, and that isn't the purpose of the review). Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) is a gawky product tester who falls in love with a politically active young woman, Nancy (Louise Lasser--Allen's first wife before the age of Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow or Soon-Yi Previn). Though very drawn to her, Mellish is not able to truly capture the young woman's heart. Why? Because he isn't as politically involved as she would like him to be. Well, all that changes when the awkward (not so young) man takes a life-altering trip to San Marcos, a small island nation falling under the thumb of pronounced political upheaval. Their leader, with strong leanings toward dictatorship and supression, has been assasinated and everything is in flux. It is during Mellish's trip that a very unlikely and (perhaps) profoundly unbelievable political shift occurs. I won't ruin it for you. You will have to see it for yourself. I will tell you that as many years as it has been since BANANAS' 1971 release, it still remains a very bold and wonderful showcase for Allen's irrerepresible physical comedy, as well as the quirky/neurotic brand of incidental insight that he is known best for today.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still relevant after all these years (1970), November 16, 2006

By 

L. A. Corr "kid sister" (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bananas (DVD)

Good old-fashioned slapstick comedy, Bananas illustrates the dictatorship to revolution to new dictatorship cycle of third world - and worldwide - bureaucracies. The most hoot-aloud hilarious of Woody Allen's films.