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DVD Husbands and Wives
In 1992, Woody Allen and Mia Farrow--heretofore the Lunt and Fontanne of Hollywood on the Hudson--went public with a media-saturated battle over Allen's affair with Farrow's adopted daughter. Only a few months later, Allen released this film, starring himself and Farrow acting out a virtually identical plot line: an unhappy marriage begins to crumble when the husband strays with a much younger woman (in this case, one of his students, played by Juliette Lewis). It turned out to be one of Allen's most lacerating comedies, a story about the fragility of relationships and the foolishness of older men seeking to recapture their youth with younger women. It features strong performances by Judy Davis, Liam Neeson, and director Sydney Pollack, as a friend of Allen's who chucks his longtime wife for an aerobics instructor, thus planting seeds of marital dissolution in all of his friends' heads. Husbands and Wives provided an uncanny peek into Allen's image of himself and his personal life, despite all of his protestations to the contrary. --Marshall Fine
This is a indepth look at a bunch of immature selfish bored new yorkers who think "the grass is greener in the other fellows yard" but come to find out that what they had was alot better than what they have now. I liked this movie (as I've liked most of Woody's movies) but I can certainly see why he annoys so many viewers. He whines so much and complains so much even I'd like to slap him.
Woody's Masterpiece.
I have been a major Woody Allen fanatic since I was 10 years old, but only now, after my third viewing of "Husbands and Wives" did I fully comprehend the importance of this film within his oeuvre. It's home movie feel and documentary style provide subtle integrity for its frames. The acting and the characterization are superb. This may be the best cast he ever assembled with producer, and non-actor, Sydney Pollack even putting forth a remarkable performance. The audience will care about all of the players and wonder exactly what will happen in the end.
Allen denied repeatedly that "Husbands and Wives" was autobiographical but it would be impossible for it not to have been given the events of his life. Here we see him play a writer who, just like Allen, is cherished by fans for his "funnier early works." One wonders whether his affair with Soon-Yi had begun at the time of its production and what exactly his interactions with Farrow were like.
Allen was clearly working through many of his own personal dilemmas and that is exactly why the film is so authentic and believable. It will touch in some way most who see it as sometimes life really does imitate art.
Relationships and What Happens to Them...
It was ironic (or perhaps not) that Woody Allen and Mia Farrow were in the midst of a terrible breakup when this film came out. I only saw it recently, and it's one of those films that technically would never fly, unless Allen was behind it.
I enjoyed the partial-documentary sequences where the characters discuss their marriages, breakups, etc., and dark comedy that surrounds it all.
Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis are that old married couple you think would stay together forever, but they're breaking up. Woody finds himself strangely drawn to one of his writing students (Juliette Lewis makes the film!), who seems to get every man she meets on a string without even trying, Mia hooks up with Liam Neeson...there's a certain shallowness protrayed when it comes to people, and that really hit me.
Perhaps as I was going through my own marriage breakup at the time I saw this awhile back, it struck chords with me I didn't think it would. In any case, this is not a madcap Woody film. It's a sometimes harsh examination of how people deal with each other, and don't always realize what they've got.
You need to be in the right mood for this one, but it's worth the time.
Some critics and filmgoers have hailed this 1989 comedy-drama as Woody Allen's best film, and while that's certainly open for debate, a good case can be made that it's the most ambitious and morally complex of Allen's films. It's the kind of movie that provokes heated philosophical debate about the role of God in our lives, the nature of guilt, and the circumstances that would allow a seemingly good, law-abiding family man and successful professional (Martin Landau) to commit a murder with no risk of being caught. Could you live with yourself under those conditions? Allen explores this complicated issue in the context of an extramarital affair that Landau's mistress (Anjelica Huston) threatens to expose, while developing a second story about a documentary filmmaker (Allen) who reluctantly... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Woody Allen - Martin Landau Director(s): Woody Allen DVD Release Date: Released the 05 June 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Woody Allen roared back at his detractors with Deconstructing Harry, a bitterly funny treatise about the creative process. Known to mine his often tumultuous personal life for his movies, the embattled writer-director-star didn't bother to make his alter ego likable in this movie: Harry Block (Allen) pops pills, frequents prostitutes, and cheats on the women in his life, then writes about their foibles in thinly disguised fiction. No wonder they're all furious with him. As Harry journeys to his alma mater with a hooker, ill pal, and kidnapped son, a series of flashbacks unravel, juxtaposing Harry's relationships with their "slightly exaggerated" fictional counterparts. There are amusing cameos throughout, including a humorous turn by Demi Moore as a fictitious ex-wife who "became... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Woody Allen Director(s): Woody Allen DVD Release Date: Released the 26 May 1998 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Woody Allen was going through his off-screen scandal with Mia Farrow when Manhattan Murder Mystery was produced, so Diane Keaton was brought in to fill the role intended for Farrow. The reunion of Keaton and Allen only improves this already enjoyable Allen comedy, since they're so comfortable with each other's neuroses that they're delightfully convincing as a married couple who suspect their neighbor of murdering his wife. Actually, it's Keaton who obsesses about the possible foul play; Woody just wants them to mind their own business. But pretty soon they've recruited their friends (Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston) as amateur sleuths, and the movie turns into a Nancy Drew mystery for sophisticated Manhattanites. With a typical abundance of Woody Allen witticism and some memorable... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Woody Allen - Diane Keaton Director(s): Woody Allen DVD Release Date: Released the 15 December 1998 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Considered by many to be Woody Allen's best film, even over Annie Hall. Hannah and Her Sisters follows a multitude of characters: Hannah (Mia Farrow), who plays den mother to her extended family; her sister Lee (Barbara Hershey), emotional and a bit of a flake, who's involved with a much older artist (Max Von Sydow), who treats her like a child; and Hannah's other sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest), a neurotic who feels incapable of managing her life. Hannah's husband Elliot (Michael Caine) falls in love with Lee, which sets off a series of upheavals. Allen gives one of his best performances as Hannah's ex-husband Mickey, who--much like Allen himself--is obsessed with death and unhappiness. But a simple summary doesn't begin to capture the warmth and intimacy of this movie; though... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Woody Allen - Barbara Hershey - Michael Caine - Mia Farrow - Dianne Wiest Director(s): Woody Allen DVD Release Date: Released the 06 November 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Mira Sorvino won an Oscar for her performance as a bubbleheaded hooker and porn star who happens to be the mother of a bright young boy adopted by a Manhattan couple (Woody Allen and Helena Bonham Carter). The story finds Allen's sportswriter character becoming curious about the identity of his son's biological mom, and he strikes up a relationship with her without revealing why. This 27th feature written and directed by Allen is a nice combination of smart comedy and some of the wackier energy of his earliest movies. (Between scenes, there's a running gag involving a Greek chorus--actually filmed among some real Greek ruins--who do song-and-dance interpretations of the script's events.) This isn't Allen at his best, but it is a fine minor work graced by Sorvino's spin on the cinema's... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Woody Allen - Mira Sorvino Director(s): Woody Allen DVD Release Date: Released the 18 May 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
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