I'll go out on a limb: I can't believe the year will bring forth anything to equal The Purple Rose of Cairo. At 84 minutes, it's short but nearly every one of those minutes is blissful.

A cornball adventure film about a dashing young explorer mixing with New York cafe society types. What a delightfully complicated fantasy film this is. What Woody Allen has done with The Purple Rose of Cairo is create a classic film about our love affair with fantasy. [28 Jun 1985, p.1]

Allen has done better than this, but The Purple Rose of Cairo is a sweet little film and an interesting diversion for his legion of followers.

Mia Farrow is note-perfect in this charming little movie.

The Purple Rose of Cairo, Woody Allen's tender Valentine to the movies, features poignant performances by Jeff Daniels and Mia Farrow. In the critical rush to canonize Allen, it's easy to forget how far Farrow has come as an actress. [31 May 1985, p.27]

Tale is a light, almost frivolous treatment of a serious theme, as Woody Allen here confronts the unalterable fact that life just doesn't turn out the way it does (or did) in Hollywood films. For all its situational goofiness, pic is a tragedy, and it's too bad Allen didn't build up the characters and drama sufficiently to give some weight to his concerns.