This new textbook is an abridgment of the authors earlier Woody Allens Angst: Philosophical Commentaries on His Serious Films (McFarland, 1997; "invaluable"--Choice.) Five main topics are explored: the desire of many of his characters to ground their lives in traditional ethical values despite their realization that such values may no longer be certain; the opposition between pessimism and optimism throughout his films; gender issues relating to romantic love, sexual desire, and the ongoing changes in our cultural expectations of both men and women; the idea that contemporary American society is rapidly descending into barbarism precisely because of societal failure to maintain a sense of individual moral responsibility; and a critique of psychoanalysis as a method for understanding human behavior.

While Woody Allen is generally considered to be a master of the comic genre he created, his serious films are very important in understanding his role as one of this generation's more influential filmmakers. In this work such Allen films as Annie Hall (1977), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Mighty Aphrodite (1995) are analysed for the common philosophical themes they share. Gender issues, Allen's love-hate relationship with God, narcissism and moral relativism, and the use of the so-called existential dilemma are among the topics discussed. The extensive research is augmented with a rare interview with Allen.