Deconstructing Harry (1997)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer (WGA):

Woody Allen (written by)

Release Date:

12 December 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Harry Block wrote a bestseller about his best friends. Now, his best friends are about to become his worst enemies.

Plot:

Suffering from writer's block and eagerly awaiting his writing award, Harry Block remembers events from his past and scenes from his best-selling books as characters, real and fictional, come back to haunt him.

Plot Keywords:

Writing | Writer's Block | Novelist | Marriage | Cannibalism

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Harry Block
Richard Benjamin	...	Ken / Harry's Character
Kirstie Alley	...	Joan
Billy Crystal	...	Larry / The Devil (Harry's Character)
Judy Davis	...	Lucy
Bob Balaban	...	Richard
Elisabeth Shue	...	Fay
Demi Moore	...	Helen / Harry's Character
Robin Williams	...	Mel / Harry's Character
Caroline Aaron	...	Doris
Eric Bogosian	...	Burt
Mariel Hemingway	...	Beth Kramer
Amy Irving	...	Jane
Julie Kavner	...	Grace / Harry's Character
Eric Lloyd	...	Hilly

Also Known As:

The Meanest Man in the World (USA) (working title)
Woody Allen Fall Project 1996 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language and some sexuality.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR (Mono)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Jean Doumanian Productions

Trivia:

Woody Allen based Harry's trip on Ingmar Bergman's Smultronstället (1957) (also known as "Wild Strawberries"). Bergman is said to be Allen's favorite director.

Quotes:

Harry: The ironic thing is that the school that kicked me out is honoring me soon.
Shrink: Why did they kick you out?
Harry: Because I wasn't interested in college. I wanted to be a writer and that's all I cared about. Also, I tried to give the Dean's wife an enema. They didn't take kindly to that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Brian's Got a Brand New Bag (#8.4)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

I Could Write a Book

Vulgar, funny, honest, sad, a little bizarre

Woody bares his soul--again--and if the introspective vision of the sad clown (growing old) isn't what you're expecting, the film is likely to be a disappointment. The film is funny, of course, and vulgar (as most Allen movies are), but it's also bitter and cynical, and rather sad.

The jerky jump-cuts might be a stylized editing cover-up for jumping from take to take to utilise the best performances of a pantheon of actors, or they might be planned...I don't know. I had to see a few of them before I settled into accepting them as "the style", but I decided they work in this film.

Other "user comments" complain about Woody and the sexy young women. That bothers me in some films, but not here. Here it's part of Harry's character--part of Woody's "character"--and is clearly part of his problem.

I think this is an honest film, a sad and revealing film about one of the most clever and creative writers in America. It's funny, it's witty, and it's also depressing. It has moments of pure, laugh-out-loud humour (eg. the elevator going down to the bottom floor of hell; Harry arriving at the honouring ceremony with a dead body, a prostitute, and his "kidnapped" son in the car), but underneath it's the story of a man who cannot function happily in real life, only in the fictions he creates. Although fantasy plays a major role in the story, the story is not a fantasy. The parallels between Allen himself and the character and plot he's created here are obvious.

I enjoyed watching this video, and would recommend it-- selectively--to friends. If you like the Allen sense of humour, want to see a fairly unusual editing style used effectively, want to see some superb acting cameos by some very talented actors, or have an interest in the torments of a neurotic middle-aged genius and how they might be revealed on film, then you'll like this movie. If this doesn't sound like your kind of thing, watch something else.