This movie is a lot like Allen's prior film, TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN, in that there are so many hilarious moments as well as very flat and unfunny ones. Some of the best moments included the harp player in the closet, his going to the take-out restaurant to get money for the guerrilla army and his going to dinner with el Presidente (and so he brings some danishes). It's raw and silly and lots of fun! The flat moments are many, such as the Howard Cosell ending to the film and most of the time he's acting with Louise Lasser. But, I'd rather see a film like this that lacks polish than many of his later, more refined, films. That's because unrefined or not, I laughed myself silly several times during the film.

SNAKE BITE!!!

Not, in my opinion, one of Woody Allen's best, being not quite as endlessly quotable as Annie Hall, as heart-breakingly truthful as Husbands and Wives, as relateable as Hannah and Her Sisters, as visually beautiful as Manhattan or as ground-breaking as Zelig. But it is tremendously entertaining, very easy to like and is one of Allen's most accessible along with Sleeper and The Purple Rose of Cairo(also great films, especially the latter which is another one of Allen's best). Sure it has some uneven spots, the story does play second fiddle to the gags and does feel rushed with the odd occasion when Allen seemed to be losing control of his material somewhat; the ending personally did fall flat and there are too many copy and paste close-up shots which did have a dizzying effect. For its unevenness though, Bananas still works really well and is a case of being flawed but with the pros outweighing the cons by some considerable distance. The score is very catchy with the odd witty touch and is very fitting, Allen's directing is very competently done though with the understandable- seeing as Bananas was only his third film- sense that he was still properly finding his own voice and he does give a great performance too(one of his funniest actually),here he shows that he is completely at home in comedy without being too self-indulgent regardless of his intentionally neurotic character. The acting generally in Bananas is fine and there is good rapport between everyone with the chemistry between Allen and Louise Lasser quite sweet, though only Allen really stands out. But it is in the dialogue and sight gags that makes Bananas as fun as it is. The dialogue is deliciously biting and smart(though a few parts may not sit well with some today),with the best of the one-liners are unforgettably quotable. And the sight gags and slapstick are easily some of the funniest of any Woody Allen film, the best of which being the subway train, magazine and especially trial scenes. Loved the homages to Ingmar Bergman, Charlie Chaplin and Luis Bunuel too and the title, deriving from banana republics and the Marx Brothers' The Cocoanuts, is equally inspired. All in all, recommended highly, not a masterpiece but with a huge amount to enjoy. 8/10 Bethany Cox

By the time he got to Bananas, Woody Allen was reaching new heights in absurdist comedy. The idea of covering a South American revolution as a sporting event certainly was original one. Even getting to the point of getting the voice of American sports Howard Cossell to join the fun.

Allen is refining his schlepp persona in Bananas. Although he divorced his leading lady Louise Lasser in real life the two worked well together here. Allen tries to get a relationship going, but Lasser is interested in social causes. She has a bleeding heart for the people of the South American country of San Marcos and gives Woody his walking papers.

So off Allen goes to San Marcos as the schlepp from Brooklyn mixes with all kinds of folks there from dictator Carlos Montalban right down to the Che Guevara revolutionaries.

So many absurd moments in Bananas to count. My favorite is ordering takeout for the revolutionary army from a South American version of a Jewish delicatessen.

Definitely a must for Woody Allen.