Bananas (1971)-"PG-13"

Run Time:82 minutes

3 stars out of 4

Woody Allen's Bananas is completely random, non-sensical, bizarre, and funny. Woody Allen plays Fielding Mellish, a nerdy and social misfit Consumer Products Tester for a major appliance company. While partaking in a door-to-door survey for some political cause, an attractive girl named Nancy (Louise Lasser) happens into Fielding's life. He becomes infatuated with her and gets her to go out with him. To impress her he tries to take part in her political activism and highly liberal views, but she realizes what an immature weirdo he is and dumps him. Fielding, however, is too stubborn, and flies to the tiny unstable South American country of San Marcos to change things there, and maybe get Nancy's attention. In a bizarre plot twist, Fielding is kidnapped by the corrupt government, then by separatist rebels, and finally winds up as president of the newly formed democracy. On a trip back to the United States, to appeal for federal aid, Nancy approaches the disguised Mellish, unaware of his true identity, because of her respect for his just cause and difficult task in helping the country. This, of course, is just what Mellish wants, but I don't want to say much more to give away the story. My main recommendation: If you want to enjoy this film, let go of all logic and reasoning, because the plot is completely random and impossible. The laughs are big and Woody Allen's comedy is, at times, genius, so it is definitely worth watching, but don't expect much of a plot in this 88 minutes of comedic insanity.