SummaryA wacky inventor and his wife invite two other couples for a weekend party at a romantic summer house in the 1900s countryside.
Directed By:Woody Allen
Written By:Woody Allen
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
Metascore
Mixed or Average
51
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
51
17% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
83% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
75
Woody Allen's new movie, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, will not make you cry, as Annie Hall and Manhattan were capable of, and it won't make you cringe, as Stardust Memories almost demanded. It is not screamingly funny, romantically piquant, bitter or even, in most ways, unusual. With the exception of a single recurring image--that of Allen as an amateur inventor of the early 20th Century, flapping about in various homemade flying machines--there is not even anything of the absurd in this film. It's just an engaging Woody Allen movie, in which much of the humor is familiar and the tone is as moistly appealing as the title suggests. [18 July 1982, p.L3]
60
It's not Allen's best film, but fans of the Woodman should not resist. Whether it's the future of Sleeper or the turn-of-the- century of Sex Comedy, Allen plays the same character -- always bewildered, always sex-obsessed, always under-consummated. [23 July 1982, p.11]
60
Not Woody Allen at his best, this period piece has some clever writing but is not completely convincing.
50
It's ersatz classicism, in its inoffensive way as much a dead end as Stardust Memories. Allen seems to be biding his time, waiting for the "real" Woody Allen to figure out what a real Woody Allen movie will be. [19 July 1982, p.70]
50
If the title is half-familiar, the contents are wholly surprising. Happily, all of the bitterness is gone. Sadly, so has most of the humor. What remains is a conclusion startling but unmistakable - Woody Allen has grown bland. [16 July 1982]
50
Woody Allen is among a very few people in the history of film who have provided audiences with really intelligent humor. But even Homer nods, and never has Allen more obviously fallen down on the job than in A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, a trifle that owes much to Ingmar Bergman in style and to Groucho Marx in content.
50
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is so low-key, so sweet and offhand and slight, there are times when it hardly even seems happy to be a movie.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.3
60% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
33% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
7% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Feb 11, 2021
6
Not Woody Allen at his best, this period piece has some clever writing but is not completely convincing.
Nov 4, 2020
5
Writer/director/performer Woody Allen explores previously fruitful thematic elements in this first of a 13-film-long collaboration between himself and Mia Farrow. However, where other films in that celebrated list — like "Radio Days" & "The Purple Rose Of Cairo" — impressed me greatly, "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" greatly disappoints. I'm not sure if it's the stuffiness of the period, the flimsiness of the character work or the oddly placed sci-fi/fantasy(?) elements littered throughout, but I just couldn't invest myself in this narrative. The premise of three couples systematically rendezvousing with one another in secret seems not only like the plot for a decent movie, but an even better one for a Woody Allen movie. In reality, I just didn't care much for any of what was happening in this. Also, I guess Mia Farrow got nominated for a Razzie for her performance? I mean, she's absolutely put forth better work in her career, but, Jesus Christ, it wasn't that bad.
Production Company:
- Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions
- Orion Pictures
Release Date:Jul 16, 1982
Duration:1 h 28 m
Rating:PG
Tagline:Six characters in search of love [Video]
Awards
Razzie Awards
• 1 Nomination
