A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy Movie Review

The sole misfire in Woody Allen's third DVD box set (an otherwise impressive collection), A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy fails because it is almost completely removed from reality in every way. Sure, his usual themes of wanting, betrayal, loneliness, and sexual dysfunction are all explored at length, but putting

The acting is atrocious -- Mia Farrow sounds like she's reading from a cue card the entire film, and Mary Steenburgen and Julie Hagerty are woefully miscast as a troubled wife and a wanton nurse, respectively. Poor Tony Roberts spends the entire film with a rag wrapped around his head. Worst off, however, is José Ferrer, an aging star uncrated, dusted off, and carted in for the occasion. The poor guy does not belong in a Woody Allen vehicle, mangling what comedy there is.

The script itself (written in two whole weeks) is hackneyed, a stale "homage" to Shakespeare but really a poor second fiddle to stuff like Porky's. Now that's a sex comedy.