Sleeper (dir. Woody Allen)
Runtime: 89 minutes
In 1973, Roger Ebert said that Sleeper “established Woody Allen as the best comic director and actor in America.” That is absolutely true; the film christened Allen’s decades-long kingship at the top of the comedic game in motion pictures, and 40-odd years after its release, it’s still one of his funniest movies.
Miles Monroe (Allen) is a health food store owner in the ‘70s, but after going into the hospital for a minor operation, he wakes up two hundred years in the future in an America that has since become a police state, where the underground rebellion wants to use him as an assassin because he’s the only person alive without an identification number. Miles is then sent on a wacky adventure with an assortment of great moments, including a long sequence where he tries disguising himself as a robot house servant, and an earlier scene, where he’s asked to identify ancient memorabilia, including pictures of celebrities, a Howard Cosell broadcast and a Playboy centerfold, which he keeps for himself.
Sleeper is Woody at the top of his comedic, slapstick game, and is also one of the early films in collaboration with Diane Keaton. The entire movie plays out like an old Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin silent flick, but with Woody’s hilarious complaining and armory of jokes, Sleeper is an ageless cult hit.
Quote to remember: “I haven’t seen my analyst in 200 years. He was a strict Freudian. If I’d been going all this time, I’d probably almost be cured by now.” – Miles