This fabulously thorough documentary about Woody Allen is a satisfying three-hour look at an American master. The film is directed by Robert B. Weide, who has directed nearly thirty episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and other documentaries about comedy icons, most notably among them are the Marx brothers and Lenny Bruce. In the bonus features, Weide tells the story of how Allen turned him down for over a decade when asked if a documentary can be made about him. He says that Allen refused because he didn't feel that he was good enough to have such a fuss be made over him. Allen speaks with genuine humility about his theory on probability and persistence, "I've been working on the quantity theory. I feel if I keep making films, every once in a while I'll get lucky and one will come out OK." Allen has made a film a year for four decades and I've only seen about 15 of them (Annie Hall is my favorite, for the record).
The celebrity interviews are top-notch and Allen's own forthright cooperation makes this a paramount look at one of my favorite film makers of all time.
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