Everyone Says I Love You

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Everyone Says I Love You is a 1996 musical comedy written and directed by Woody Allen and starring a large Ensemble Cast.

Like a lot of Woody Allen movies, the film is set in New York and features Loads and Loads of Characters. This particular film distinguishes itself by having the characters randomly break into song. The musical numbers, and the entire tone of the film are a Shout-Out to the musicals of the 1920s and 1930s.

Characters include:

  • DJ Berlin - The Narrator of the film, daughter of Joe and Steffie.
  • Joe Berlin - Father of DJ, ex-husband of Steffie. Also a neurotic, insecure writer.
  • Steffie Dandridge - Mother of DJ, Lane and Laura; ex-wife of Joe, wife of Bob. A philanthropist.
  • Bob Dandridge - Father of Schuyler, Scott, Lane and Laura; husband of Steffie. A lawyer.
  • Scott Dandridge - Bob's son from his first marriage; considered the Black Sheep of the family for his conservative beliefs.
  • Schuyler Dandridge - Bob's daughter from his first marriage. Dating Holden.
  • Lane and Laura Dandridge - Bob and Steffie's daughters. Sometimes creep into Bratty Teenage Daughter territory.
  • Holden Spence - Schuyler's boyfriend/fiance, a lawyer who works for Bob.
  • Von Sidell - A woman whose therapy sessions DJ listens in to (the therapist is the mother of one of Lane and Laura's friends) and decides would be a perfect match for her father.
  • Charles Ferry - a recently-released criminal whom Steffie invites for dinner; he takes an interest in Schuyler.
Tropes used in Everyone Says I Love You include:

DJ: We're not the typical family from a musical comedy.

    • When Bob starts singing "I'm Thru With Love" when Schuyler reveals she dumped Holden, Steffie quizzically asks, "What are you singing about? You're not in love with Holden!"
  • The Cast Showoff: Averted mostly, as the only members of the main cast with musical experience were Alan Alda and Goldie Hawn. Woody Allen had to instruct Hawn and Edward Norton to sound worse when they sang, not wanting the main cast to sound like professional singers.
    • Applies to the dancing in the film too- while the dancers in the 'My Baby Just Cares for Me' scene dance like professionals, Edward Norton's dancing is deliberately clumsy and awkward in comparison.
    • Drew Barrymore flatly refused to sing, which is why she is the only cast member who is dubbed.
  • City of Canals: Joe and DJ holiday in Venice.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Grandpa.
  • The Dead Can Dance: See The Fun in Funeral trope below.
  • The Fun in Funeral: Grandpa's funeral turns into a musical performance of Guy Lombardo's 'Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)', complete with dancing ghosts.
  • Gay Paree: Joe lives in Paris for most of the year, and the Dandridges are vacationing there at the end of the film.
  • The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Lane and Laura compete for the attentions of the same boy.
  • Happily Divorced: Joe and Steffie, though they're still in love.
  • Happily Married: Bob and Steffie.
  • Ironic Echo: Holden's melancholy rendition of 'I'm Thru With Love' after Schuyler leaves him being swiftly followed by a rapper performing at a concert DJ's attending.

Rapper: Yo check it I'm through with love / I'm through with all you muthafuckas

.

Bob: Frieda, this pasta doesn't have any sauce.
Frieda: It's Bavarian pasta, it doesn't need sauce. The Italians need sauce. The Italians were weak!

  • Title Drop: "Everyone Says I Love You" is the final song of the film.
  • Wacky Marriage Proposal: Both times Holden proposes to Schuyler, and both manage to Go Horribly Wrong.
    • For the first proposal, Holden hides the ring in Schuyler's dessert, and she ends up swallowing it.
    • The second involves him hiding it in a box of candy with virtually the same results.
  • With This Ring: Of the 'hide it in a dessert at a romantic dinner' variety. See Wacky Marriage Proposal above.