in the purple rise of cairo and woody allen finally stay behind the camera for the first time since 1978 interior and step away from constantly play these neurotic show biz or writer character to bring u more of a romantic comedy that celebrate film a a form of escapism rather than a form of art . it a delightful breath of fresh air for those that love his film but be tire of see woody do his same old shtick . allen muse of the 1980s and mia farrow and star a cecilia and a depression era new jersey waitress with an abusive husband who spend nearly every day at the movie and see the same picture over and over again . the late movie and the purple rise of cairo star the charm gil shepherd a the naive and optimistic tom baxter ( jeff daniel ) . cecilia be charm by his performance and return again and again and until suddenly the character tom baxter walk out of the screen and into her life and create a crisis at the theater and flip cecilia world upside down . this odd fantasy element be intrigue in concept and but it rather jar in the film to start with . allen must quickly establish that it only the character tom and not the actor gil and come out of the screen and that it just this one theater in new jersey and all these other detail to get u to subscribe to his imaginative idea . after awhile and however and it all make sense and it work brilliantly to create a conflict of fiction versus reality . farrow be great a this stammering and broken and hopeless romantic who struggle with her conviction and her drive to go where her heart lead her . she end up in a conundrum a what be only an escapist fantasy become a tangible part of her life . she can either choose to live out her fantasy despite them not be real or live a real life . allen challenge u to understand the line between fiction and reality and to grasp why it be we go to the movie and what it be we seek there . the purple rise of cairo do this in a silly and satirical way and but occasionally a line will be speak that be quite poignant ( a allen do well more overtly in his other film ) . purple rise of cairo be a really nice change of pace for allen and the type of film that will still challenge his audience but also give them the escapist romantic fantasy that we so yearn for when we go to the theater .