Overall I felt this was a very enjoyable movie, which came as a surprise to me. I am not a huge fan of Woody Allen, but I must say that I thought this was the best work that I have seen from him.The opening scene with Cecilia at work in the diner draws an immediate parallel to the Valentino pieces we read. She is discussing with her co-worker the intimate details of the life of one of a movie star, almost as if she were one of his family members. This is very closely related to how America felt when Valentino died. People who had never met the actor wept and went to pay their respects to the dead actor because they felt a closeness with him. I really like the whole "human" aspect that Woody Allen used in portraying Ceclia's life. He basically defined the theatre as a way for her to leave a life, which for the most part was bad, for a few hours. She had an abusive, disinterested husband and was having a tough time at work. All this coupled with the fact that it was the Depression era in American history make Cecilia's life extremely difficult. All of these problems, however, disappeared once Cecilia entered the movie theatre. I liked this because this is how many people feel. When you are bored, lonely, etc. you can pop in a movie and almost get away from the real world.I thought the whole idea of the Tom Baxter character walking off the screen was not only funny but brilliant. We have seen movies where people go into the screen, as in last week's Sherlock, Jr., but rarely do we see an actor leave the screen. I thought Jeff Daniels did an excellent job in portraying both Baxter and the "real" actor in the film, Gil Shepherd. In discussing this aspect of the film, I also thought that Allen's use of explaining fact and fiction was great. Through the Tom Baxter character Cecilia began to understand that the movies, although a great escape, were not real and that life is difficult weather you are an actor or a poor working class woman like...
