Wild Man Blues Movie Review

Woody Allen the filmmaker we know. But Woody the jazz musician? Barbara Kopple's documentary follows the Woodman around a tour of Europe with his scrappy New York jazz combo, only to fan adoring fans enamored with... his movies. Soon-Yi Previn provides a lot of insight into Allen's appeal, while he exhibits traditional Allenisms: hypochondria, fear of a dog licking him, displeasure with a Spanish breakfast, and inability to climb out of a small wading pool. As a classic jazz fan, the "primitive New Orleans music that no longer exists anywhere on earth" is quite good. The feel-good insights into Allen's life are rather shallow and fleeting at best (Kopple is an obvious fan who softballs the whole picture -- probably a neccessary evil, however, in even getting the picture made). Overall, if you'd like to see what 90 minutes of Woody's neurotic home life is like, punctuated by some clarinet blowing, this is the movie for you.