This came as a great surprise because I didn't pay enough attention at the movies for which Woody only wrote the screenplay and for years I had no idea that he made something like this, and with Diane Keaton as a partner! This movie is in my opinion an overlooked gem, probably because many people are thrown off by the fact that Woody didn't direct it. Of course that shows... I think the mood of the film is not so good, the pacing tends to drag after half an hour and the climactic scene with "Bogey", Woody and Keaton I think didn't emphasize all the potential of the script. Speaking of which, even if flawed with some flat jokes and one-liners, the screenplay has a very natural energy that Woody seriously lacks in his later efforts, an energy that places this movie alongside Sleeper and Take the Money and Run. But unlike those two other movies from the same period Play it Again, Sam is more bent on the romantic side and it really is much more than just a Casablanca spoof. It is more in line with The Purple Rose of Cairo portraying a passive character with enough soul to give to others but unable to make good with people because of inhibitions. In both these films the main character is a movie buff, consuming all that energy that should be invested in their lives in devouring movies. Play it Again, Sam was more optimistic, I thought and it was brilliant in its self-referential nature, Woody proved that he was short and ugly enough to make it on his own. And nobody could ever deny that he lacks style...