David Shayne (John Cusack, in performance his character that of a young Woody Allen) is an idealistic young playwright whose life (and play) is about to be turned upside down as it heads toward Broadway. In order to gain financing for GOD OF OUR FATHERS, Shayne agrees to hire Olive Neal (a wonderfully high-squeaking Jennifer Tilly), the actress/girlfriend of Nick Valenti, a potential backer--who also happens to be a gangster. Unfortunately, the lass proves to be not only talent-free but ditzy to boot, a hindrance since she is supposed to play a psychiatrist. But Cheech, Olive's hoodlum bodyguard, proves to be more intuitive artistically than anyone would suspect, as his contributions improve not only Olive's performance but the quality of the flailing play as well. Meanwhile, Shayne must contend with an odd assortment of actors, including the neurotic Eden Brent, with her omnipresent, yapping dog; the pompous Warner Purcell, a corset-wearing overeater; and haughty leading lady Helen Sinclair (a fabulous Dianne Wiest), the aging, boozing diva with whom Shayne begins a romance. The laughs keep coming like rapid machine-gun fire in this riotous Woody Allen farce.
Theatrical release (in New York and Los Angeles): October 14, 1994.
Filmed on location in New York City.
Actors Tony Sirico and Edie Falco both later starred in the award-winning series THE SOPRANOS on HBO. Woody Allen told the New York Daily News in January 2001, "And Tony Sirico, from my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, was in a bunch of my films, and he's just wonderful as Paulie Walnuts in THE SOPRANOS.
The final song over the closing credits, Irving Aaronson and His Commanders' version of Cole Porter's "Let's Misbehave," appeared over the opening credits of
Allen's film EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK.
Excerpt: "Don't speak!"--Helen Sinclair (Dianne Wiest)
DVD Features:
Region 1 Encoding
Keep Case
Special Features: Interactive Menus, Chapter Search.
Distributor Notes: Bullets Over Broadway
Big city mobsters and the Broadway stage collide hilariously in this side-splitting all-star comedy that had audiences and critics rolling in the aisles! John Cusack (HIGH FIDELITY) stars as David Shayne, an idealistic young writer who'll do anything to get his first Broadway play off the ground -- even if it means teaming up with the mob! Surrounded by a wacky cast of characters including a gangster's ditzy girlfriend (sexy Jennifer Tiley, MADE IN AMERICA), a tipsy actress (Dianne Wiest, PARENTHOOD), and a mob hit man (Chazz Palminteri, A BRONX TALE), Shayne's got to pull it all off before the curtain falls and bullets start to fly!
Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
Cinematographer
Carlo Di Palma: Italian Director Of Photography/In USA
Production Designer
Santo Loquasto: Woody Allen's pd
Costume Designer
Jeffrey Kurland: Costumer
Review 1:
"...BULLETS is one of Allen's best and most revealing comedies, as much a moral meditation as it is dazzling fun..."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.103-4 11/03/1994
Review 2:
"...The Woodman's funniest movie in years....Lovely stuff..."
Source: Film Comment
p.71-3 11/01/1994
Review 3:
"...Unabashed entertainment....It's enormously winning..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.40-1 05/01/1995
Review 4:
"...The movie is very funny and, in the way it follows its logic wherever it leads, surprisingly tough..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.41 10/28/1994
Review 5:
"...Unparalleled character acting..." - Recommended
Source: Premiere
p.133 05/01/1995
Review 6:
"...A bright, energetic, sometimes side-splitting comedy with vital matters on its mind....The [film] in which [Allen] speaks most seriously from the heart..."
Source: New York Times
p.C1 09/30/1994
Review 7:
"...One of Allen's briskest yet densest movies....Wiest in a no-holds-barred, Oscar-winning performance..." -- Rating:A-
Source: Entertainment Weekly
pp.68-70 05/12/1995
Review 8:
"[A] portrait of backstage Manhattan…with much to say about the demands of art."
Source: Premiere
p.109 07/01/2006
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