Wild Man Blues

PG

1997

1 hr. 45 min.

Documentary

Music

List

86%

37 Reviews

Tomatometer

66%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple follows Woody Allen as he tours 18 European cities with his jazz band. Indulging his first love, Allen ably plays the clarinet alongside a group of pros, as audiences revel in both the music and their proximity to the prolific director. As Allen loses his way in hotel corridors and kvetches about being unworthy of adulation, the film depicts his younger wife, Soon-Yi Previn, as the sensible household decision-maker.

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Thomas M

The best documentary movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/25/22

Full Review

Audience Member

#WoodyAllenRetro Podcast Project hmmm, being honest here.. this seems more like a general behind the scenes with Woody and Soon-Yi.. with a few concert elements thrown in - and for that.. its not bad.. but it's not exactly a documentary about the band in our eyes - regardless, woody behind the scenes is always amusing - seeing the controversial relationship front and center is actually charming as Soon-Yi is a likeable and energetic force, the concert parts are very medicore and the band just seem to be happy with the situation - as always woody talking about his own movies is hilarious and the real kicker is probably at the end with Woody and his parents! - yeah, this is going to be for the fans and maybe lightens woodys perception after all the drama - its a decent watch but probably only for the woody die hards - tbh we've seen better performances from the band in many YouTube videos... so... yeah.. lol

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Woody Allen is a strange and get interesting man, and it is notable that practically all his films make use of Jazz music. So a documentary about him and his passions would be interesting. Jazz music is an interesting tune, and a documentary covering it really needs to focus on someone who has a serious passion for it. And Woody Allen is the perfect choice for that because he has a great passion for the music which he reveals himself to consider the music as his idea of art, and it reveals just how he naturally loves it when he plays it. Wild Man Blues shows Woody Allen playing music and interacting with people in casual situations, so it is an entertaining profile of him which doesn't label him as anything. It doesn't emphasise him as a filmmaker or solely as a musican, it simply shows him as a normal man with versatile passions. And frankly, his natural charm as a person makes the experience of the film entertaining enough even within its limitations simply as a casual documentary about the man during day to day experiences. As most of Woody Allen's films depict complicated romantic relationships between him playing someone and another woman, Wild Man Blues serves as a front to see what it is really like to be the woman in his life. And as it comes from the year 1997, the year that his relationship with his ex-partner's adopted daughter became public, Wild Man Blues serves as a representation of the kind of relationship that Woody Allen shares with Soon-Yi Priven and contrasts him to the stereotypical nebbish which he always seems to find himself playing. It reveals his natural charm and his respect for people, disregarding the stereotype of the sexual predator which many people label him as. Wild Man Blues reveals the kind of normal man that Woody Allen is and focuses mostly on his day to day life as well as his passion for Jazz music while touching lightly upon his relationship with Soon-Yi Previn. So Wild Man Blues is a nice documentary look at Woody Allen. Though it isn't as deep as I might have hoped and it's subject matter is very limited, Wild Man Blues. There isn't too much to say about a documentary like Wild Man Blues because it doesn't have too much to cover, but it manages to cover it all well with fine cinematography and an honest look at its character and it's subject matter. It isn't particularly deep, but it does the job. So Wild Man Blues is a fair look at Woody Allen over the course of several days. It doesn't have too much material to delve into, but it does it well and is an honest film which reveals his passion for Jazz music.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There's no reason to watch Wild Man Blues unless you're a huge Woody Allen fan, and even then there's no big insight into Allen's life that isn't hinted at in his own films.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Woody Allen, seu lindo!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

For die-hard Allen fans, this is a must-see if only to hear a handful of classic Allen one-liners. There's not a lot of exploration into the music Allen is playing or why he plays it but it does serve as an interesting document of Allen's astonishing international fame in the mid-90s at the height of his scandal phase.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

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Barbara Kopple

Director

Woody Allen

Self

Letty Aronson

Self

Soon-Yi Previn

Self

Dan Barrett

Self

Simon Wettenhall

Self

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David Rooney

Variety

Kopple's discreet, quietly revelatory style creates a fine balance between public and private personae that veers more pointedly toward the personal in an incongruous but fascinating coda.

Oct 16, 2007

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

It provides some generous insights into his psychic background when his unsupportive parents greet him back in New York at the end.

Oct 16, 2007

Full Review

Time Out

It's hardly a revelation, but Allen emerges as genuinely neurotic. He's also funny.

Jan 26, 2006

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Rated: 4/5

Mar 8, 2008

Full Review

Maitland McDonagh

TV Guide

The subject is Woody Allen, but anyone interested in his career as a writer, stand-up comedian, actor or filmmaker will learn little from Barbara Kopple's new documentary.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 16, 2007

Full Review

Film4 Staff

Film4

There's only one certain conclusion: Woody Allen finds it terrifically uncomfortable being Woody Allen.

Oct 16, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

Documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple follows Woody Allen as he tours 18 European cities with his jazz band. Indulging his first love, Allen ably plays the clarinet alongside a group of pros, as audiences revel in both the music and their proximity to the prolific director. As Allen loses his way in hotel corridors and kvetches about being unworthy of adulation, the film depicts his younger wife, Soon-Yi Previn, as the sensible household decision-maker.

Director: Barbara Kopple
Executive Producer: J.E. Beaucaire
Production Co: Sweetland Films, Jean Doumanian Productions, Cabin Creek
Rating: PG
Genre: Documentary, Music
Original Language: English
Box Office (Gross USA): $526.4K
Sound Mix: Dolby, Surround