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Woody Allen, Louise Lasser, Carlos Montalban, Natividad Abascal, Jacobo Morales ... see more see more... , Miguel Ángel Suárez , Stanley Ackerman , Axel Anderson , Hy Anzell , Jack Axelrod , Conrad Bain , Eddie Barth , Beeson Carroll , Ted Chapman , Howard Cosell , Dagne Crane , Ed Crowley , Don Dunphy , René Enríquez , Princess Fatosh , Dorothi Fox , Dan Frazer , Allen Garfield , Martha Greenhouse , Roger Grimsby , Arthur Hughes , Bob O'Connell , David Oniz , Charlotte Rae , Sylvester Stallone , John Braden , Dick Callinan , Norman Evans , Baron DeBeer , Marilyn Hengst , David Ortiz , Eulogio Peraza , Tigre Perez , Nicholas Saunders , Robert Dudley , Nati Abascal

One of Woody Allen's earlier, more slapstick-oriented efforts, Bananas tells the story of Fielding Mellish (Allen), a neurotic New Yorker who follows the object of his affections, Nancy (Louise Lasser... read more read more...), to the fictional Central American country of San Marcos, where she is involved in a revolution. Nancy wants nothing to do with Fielding, but he soon becomes a guest of the country's dictator (Carlos Montalban), before accidentally becoming the leader of San Marcos himself. Fielding is eventually shipped back to the US and tried as a subversive, but being that this is a comedy, and an especially light one at that, everything works out in the end. A far cry from Allen's later, more somber films, Bananas still works as an often hilarious amalgam of sight gags, one-liners, and bizarre asides. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

Flixster Users

73% liked it

17,268 ratings

Critics

89% liked it

18 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 22 min.

Directed by: Woody Allen

Release Date: April 28, 1971

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DVD Release Date: July 5, 2000

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Stats: 762 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (762)

  • spielberg00
    February 21, 2012
    spielberg00
    Though BANANAS is funny, it couldn't be made today. From the very opening scene in which a Central American television reporter informs us that we are about to see their president publicly assassinated, it is clear that it would be considered mocking toward Latin American nations... read more. BANANAS isn't your typical Woody Allen comedy, either. This being a very early film for Allen as director, we can use this film to see reason as to why Allen uses little music and simplistic black-and-white title sequences in most of his movies. The odd placements of pieces such as Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" make it seem more like a Mel Brooks film; and the colorful, cartoon-y title sequence looks like it came from an kids' movie.
  • JonathanHutchings
    March 23, 2011
    JonathanHutchings
    The popular conception of the arc that Woody Allen films have taken over the past 30 odd years is that it goes from silly to serious. It is certainly true that his early films (this film, What's Up, Tiger Lily? and Take The Money and Run, for instance) are faster, sillier, and im... read morebued with a heavy dose of slapstick, whereas his tragicomedies such as the brilliant Crimes and Misdemeanors are more thoughtful and analytical. Because I, like a lot of people, started watching Allen's later works first, the vast majority of Bananas feels more like a Jim Abrahams/David Zucker collaboration than that of one of the most observantly humanistic directors in film history. There are tons of gags (some work, some don't) and I haven't seen such a commitment to physical comedy since Leslie Nielsen brought Lt. Frank Drebin to the big screen. That's not to say that there aren't some gems (the opening scene where ABC's Wide World of Sports provides coverage of an assassination attempt on the President of the fictitious town of San Marcos is brash, bold, and dazzling -- excellently showcasing the seeds of a budding auteur). Ultimately though, it appears as if Allen, in 1971, was perhaps too dependent on his onslaught of jokes and sight gags and he didn't yet trust himself as a filmmaker. This film is manic and hyperactive (it is called Bananas, after all) but worst of all, it's impatient and overly eager to squeeze in as much "comedy" as possible, instead of trusting its material and letting the setup deliver the punchline.
  • 366weirdmovies
    February 7, 2008
    366weirdmovies
    Trying to get over his breakup with Lousie Lasser, nebbish Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) winds up in the fictional banana republic of San Marcos, eventually (and reluctantly) rising to the position of El Presidente. From the opning scene (with Howard Cossell covering the polit... read moreical assassination of San Marcos' ex-Presidente for "Wide World of Sports") it's apparent that Allen's out to take the audience on an anarchic, any-gag-for-a-laugh ride that results in one of his most consistent series of chuckles.
  • jennifxu
    December 26, 2007
    jennifxu
    Comparable to Sleeper but less funny. Still, I liked it.
  • garyX
    March 23, 2007
    garyX
    One of Allens "early funny ones" that he has treated with such disdain for the past two decades. Well excuse me for prefering to laugh at funny jokes, rather than listen to an absurdly wealthy and inexplicably well respected kiddy fiddler whinge about his "problems".
  • mjgildea
    November 5, 2006
    mjgildea
    I haven't seen it in a while but I remember liking it.
  • danieljparsons
    March 21, 2011
    danieljparsons
    Woody Allen's second film as Director/Writer/Star is essentially an 82 minute collection of sketches loosely linked to the unlikely story of Mellish (Allen) becoming the leader of a fictitious Latin American country. It's the gags that count here, and many are wonderfully funny; ... read moresome are the result of a witty one-liner, an ironic observation, some are Airplane-esque slapstick, and the hit to miss ratio is very high. The influence the film has had even on today's television and film is still apparent, and thus for all its lack of substance (Woody Allen admitted the film has the structure of a cartoon, and Bananas is generally considered a minor Allen film) its importance cannot be underestimated.
  • Lemure
    September 7, 2011
    Lemure
    It's a romance crossed with South American revolution in classic Woody Allen style. Allen plays himself, but what raises it is the high gag rate. Be it script, sight or physical, they come thick and fast. Bottom line, it's Woody Allen and everything that implies.
  • smootysveen
    July 27, 2011
    smootysveen
    I've seen most of this on TV, but not the beginning. I need to.
  • tgor1
    October 17, 2011
    tgor1
    Woody Allen's most consistent, laugh out loud comedy. Great slapstick and wordplay combined perfectly.

View All Bananas Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
March 18, 2010
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

It is a funny picture - not too consistently, and certainly not too coherently, but when it hits, it hits. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
September 5, 2009
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

A study of the Cuban Revolution by way of Freedonia Full Review

Emanuel Levy
March 30, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Inspired by the Marx Brothers comedies (specifically Duck Soup), Woody Allen made a leap forward as filmmaker in his second feature, a zany satire composed of riotous sketches and incoherent but funny... Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
July 24, 2006
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

An attempt to capture the same zaniness the Marx Brothers had in Duck Soup. Full Review

Steve Crum
October 25, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

I still love Woody's masked parents.

Ken Hanke
October 22, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Yes, Allen has made better movies -- lots of them -- but I'm not sure he ever made anything funnier. Full Review

Phil Villarreal
August 2, 2002
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star

A severely overrated Allen project. This campy string of unfunny gags does not hold up.

Scott Weinberg
July 26, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

One of Woody's earliest, silliest, and funniest flicks.

John J. Puccio
January 1, 2000
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

...inspired zaniness.

Tim Dirks
January 1, 2000
Tim Dirks, Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films

Bananas (1971) is the story of a New Yorker who becomes a South American rebel leader, to impress his political activist love interest Nancy (Louise Lasser). Full Review

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Bananas Trivia

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