Recent Reviews for Deconstructing Harry
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MCT:September 12, 2008The poorly balanced pedantry and disjointedness of this Woody Allen work can be pretty annoying; but some funny bits can compensate that.
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MCT:August 17, 2008Great script and dialogues as always!, and pretty good cast too, it's very interesting the way of deconstructing Harry's intellect, genius!.-
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MCT:August 6, 2008If an imminent disaster allowed me to save one and only one Woody Allen film, this would probably be it.
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MCT:August 3, 2008The movie Adaptation was later trying to be, but here it's also equally trite and contrived. A writer has trouble coming out with his story, so he has an affair with a married woman and trouble with therapy.
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MCT:July 7, 2008
Very creative movie. The cuts were a little disorienting and a lot of the performances were very theatrical but that's not unusual for a Woody Allen film. Some funny scenes but I don't think it's the funniest movie he's done.
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MCT:March 21, 2008
This poisonous, brazenly autobiographical comedy shows off the best of Mr. Allen's misanthropic humor.
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MCT:March 11, 2008DECONSTRUCTING HARRY (1997)
directed by Woody Allen
starring Woody Allen, Elisabeth Shue, Billy Crystal«You have no values, your whole life, its nihilism, its cynism, its sarcasm, its orgasm.»
Woddy Allen is a sex-obssessed writer named Harry Block in Deconstructing Harry. His name is Harry Block, yeah its not subtle, but Allen never really is.He leans he'll be honoured by the school that once kicked him out. As he goes on a trip with a black hooker, a soon-to-be dead friend and his son, Harry strugles with his life cause his former lvoer his getting married to one of his friend.
Allen is the same character as usual, nothing new here, but he does something interesting in this film. Its very vulgar in a way and the word «fuck» can be heard more often than expected. Harry likes to remember some of the stories he wrote and as we get to see his own life in flashback we get to understand everything he writes is based on people he knows, some element come back later and its all pretty interesting.
The editing is very interesting, the dialogues are pretty great and the performances are top notch. The short stories that we get to see almost like sketches are definately hilarious. Thats one good Woody Allen film.
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MCT:March 1, 2008
One of Woody Allen's more interesting efforts, about a writer who draws inspiration for his work from people in his real life, only to cause problems as a result. A very funny comedy.
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MCT:February 23, 2008
Woody Allen finally makes something touching and sweet and poignant like "Deconstructing Harry". For all writers out there it is a dire warning of where not to go. It is wicked and wry and funny in an adult way that all Woody Allen films should be.
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MCT:January 20, 2008
One of Allen's most particularly funny films, which I guess isn't really saying much. Definitely his most foul-mouthed one to date. Lots and lots of brilliant dialogues and one-liners, as usual.
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MCT:January 18, 2008
This is an incredibly underrated film by Woody Allen, overlooked for the likes of Annie Hall, which is good but you've gotta admit not spectacular. Allen delves deep into the soul of a messed up, womanizing, pill-popping old writer who steals and colors his own life experiences and throws them into his own novels. This is the first Allen film where the word f-ck is used gratuitously, and while it did take me aback the first few times, it makes way for an edgier, tougher understanding of an entirely different character from Allen's typical neurotics. Judy Davis's hysterics never fail to impress, even in her limited role. There's the expected hilarious one-liners mixed in with some wise, pithy zingers that truly shed some thought on life. I guess it's not for everybody, but I'm sure everybody can agree on Harry lamentation near the end: I'm ODing on myself!
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MCT:December 27, 2007briliant. not too funny but really original. its one that you kinda sit and smile at, just cuz its so different you know its a classic. this movie can define so much abstract in film, its amazing. it reminds me of family guy tho, jumping from different stories, random scenes, and totally brainless. great movie.
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MCT:November 10, 2007
Deconstructing Harry is one of the best if not the best movies that I've ever seen.
movie is about a troubled writer Harry that is to neurotic to function in his life but on the other hand he is capable to create a great literature pieces that are based on his life experiences.
Harry who is been played from side of Woody Allen is about to get a honoring reward from his old college that expelled him a few decades earlier. At the same time Harry suffers from a writers block, a lack of inspiration that unables him to start with writing his new novel.
Desperate and scared cause "...imagination is the only thing that I have in my life.." Harry is been forced to dig deep in order to look for some answers that could bring him out of his existential crises. He puts a question mark on a life that he has lived and takes us on a journey where reality of his life and fantasy of his books are becoming one.....
Woody's masterpiece reminds in a big deal on Ingmar Bergman's work but in my humble opinion Woody made a better movie that is far easier to watch. He added a plenty of intelligent dialogs and spiced it up with a lot of humor.Everything in a movie was done so thoughtfully
And at the same time it was very funny. You can watch it over and over again.Outstanding -
MCT:August 19, 2007
Lively, well-paced and chock-full of fragmets of Allen's sharp imagination. There is an R-rated edge that is not proper to his style, but it just adds a certain bite to his material, which, by the way, is a tad more angrier than most of his others. The humongous cast Allen put together works brilliantly, as always, and... well, there's not much else to say. It's very, very good, once again.
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MCT:August 16, 2007One of Allen's worst and most angry films. Painful to watch. What's with the blurry Robin Williams? Nuts.
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MCT:August 2, 2007I wasn't as surprised by this movie as I thought I would, although I did like it. The problem I had with it is that I felt it a bit rushed, too hasty to get to its conclusion when it should focus solely in the ourney that is going on, and that IS by itself the point of the film. What I mean is, you keep waiting for a resolution, when your full attention should be in the present scene. I admire Allen's courage in commiting to such a personal work, and in confronting all of his fears and failures with strength and honesty. Also, the film could have used a better look to it, better cinematography. Still, it's unique and interesting.
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MCT:July 21, 2007
My first Woody Allen. Very funny, very Woddy Allen as I would discover later. After it, I became a faithful fan.
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MCT:June 10, 2007
one of my favorite films from Woody Allen. it's got an interesting format, and it's got a funny script and a great cast.
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MCT:June 6, 2007
Harry Block es un escritor de éxito de mediana edad que con frecuencia ha utilizado sus experiencias sentimentales y familiares para escribir sus obras. Como resultado, la mayor parte de sus amigos, sus parientes y sus ex-mujeres, que se han visto reflejados y deformados en sus personajes, le odian. Por ello le resulta complicado encontrar a alguien que le acompañe en el viaje que ha de llevarle a su vieja universidad, que va a rendirle un homenaje.
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MCT:May 23, 2007
Wow. On m'avait averti que Deconstructing Harry faisait partie du nouveau Woody Allen, à présent exilé en Angleterre après avoir été accusé de violer sa fille mineure adoptive (qui elle-même s'est avouée consentente au cours du procès...), et que ça n'était pas de la force de Manhattan et de Annie Hall. En fait, le style est différent certes (malgré encore les 15 mêmes thèmes abordés constamment: peur de la mort, religion juive, freud, l'inconscient, les relations amoureuses tumultueuses, la psychanalyse, etc., etc.), mais je me suis vraiment laissé fasciner par la réalisation de Deconstructing Harry. En tout cas, personnellement, le concept m'a vraiment rejoint et je le trouve très original, ayant quelques airs à la Big Fish de Tim Allen... ALLEN ME FASCINE. Je vais dévorer tous ses films.
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MCT:May 6, 2007
As good as Woody's work consistently is, this film is, for mine, the last truly great film he's made to date. If STARDUST MEMORIES was Woody's 8 1/2, this is Woody's WILD STRAWBERRIES, but with an edge of real anger and spiky attitude rarely seen in Woody's previous work, which makes it feel all the more personal. Audacious, funny and mad as hell.
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MCT:April 15, 2007
Plutôt original, certainement divertissant, mais quelques petites longueurs çà et là. Décousu aussi, mais ça, c'est exactement le but du film. La scène de l'enfer à elle seule suffit cependant à ce que ça vaille la peine de le regarder. Il y a une graine de génie derrière ce film qui n'a pas tout à fait germé, mais quand même, ça vaut le détour.
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MCT:January 12, 2007i like a lot of woody allen's movies. there are some funny parts. but you have to decide if you like it or not.
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MCT:January 10, 2007
Wonderful craziness to be found here. His characters elevator ride down to hell, and his ultimate view of it is classic Woody. His character played by Robin Williams who finds himself one day "out of focus" is brillant. When a reason could not be found for him being out of focus - his family is given glasses to adjust to how they see him (rather than he getting help himself) Verrryy interesting and as always, so much fun. Who else would show up at their old university to receive an award with, "a deadman and a hooker"? This movie made me laugh out loud time after time. Great fun, though perhaps not for everyone.
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MCT:January 4, 2007
Fantastic film, could watch this every day until I die. My favourite Woody Allen film. Cast is brilliant too.
