Sci Fi Top 100, #64: "Sleeper" (1973)

Movie Stats:
Released 1973 (USA)
American, in English (IMDB says there’s some Yiddish but I don’t recall it; probably just a commonly known word here and there)
Director - Woody Allen
Stars - Woody Allen, Diane Keaton

Plot Summary:
After a minor surgery goes wrong, Miles Monroe (Allen) is cryogenically frozen without his knowledge and reawakened two hundred years later. Keaton plays Luna Schlosser, a woman whose life becomes intwined with Miles’s.

Warnings:
Very minor violence; drug use.

Bad Stuff:
It’s not even remotely as funny or as clever as it thinks it is. I think I laughed twice.

Woody Allen.

People constantly talking over one another/not listening to each other. See: Woody Allen.

Good Stuff:
While I found the character of Luna rather annoying, I thought Keaton did a great job and it was fun to see her playing out of type.

The stuff about the government/dictator was interesting.

The Verdict:
I’d seen this once before, couldn’t recall much of it besides the beginning (maybe I fell asleep) but was pretty sure I didn’t like it. I was right. There was a time, when I was in my late teens/early 20s, that I found Woody Allen movies relatively amusing. I’m not sure when, exactly, that time passed, but it’s long gone now. Even movies of his that I previously liked, when I watch them again, I’m not sure why I liked them before. His humor just doesn’t tickle my funny bone. I felt annoyed far more frequently than I felt either entertained or amused.

I think, if you enjoy Woody Allen’s schtick, you would probably like this film. I know a lot of people who do. If, however, you’re like me and you’re not into him, I would advise that you skip it. There are plenty of other movies out there with similar themes that are more enjoyable.

I give it 2 stars.