Sleeper

When I was coming to the age that I might "get" what Woody Allen was about is around the same time he started dating his adopted daughter.  So you can understand why I ended up avoiding his films, despite the fact that everyone in the generation of me & my friends' parents generation seems to think he's one of the great comic storytellers of all time.  But I saw Annie Hall a few years ago & I have to admit it is pretty good.  So today when Sleeper was on TCM I watched it instead of just changing the channel even though my friend in high school's dad had given away half the jokes & all of the story because it was his favorite movie.

I don't really know how I feel about this movie.  I can't quite figure out if the general plot is recycled from one precise work or if it's just combining a dozen generic sci-fi plots (modern man frozen & revived in the future, utopian leader murdered & being cloned, rebels living in the outskirts without technology).  It reminds me of Logan's Run & Buck Rogers & maybe even A Clockwork Orange spliced with Woody Allen.  Which I suppose is what it's goal is.  I suppose that gives it all away.  If you like Woody Allen & 1970s sci-fi this is a perfect movie for you.  For me personally, despite my love of 70s sci-fi, I think Woody Allen is a little too corny for this movie to work.  I don't feel I wasted my time watching it once & I would even think about watching it again in a social & drinking situation.