Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Director: Woody Allen Cast: Woody Allen, Billy Crystal, Demi Moore, Robin Williams, Judy Davis, Elisabeth Shue, kirstie Alley, Bob Balaban, Richard Benjamin, Eric Bogosian, Hazelle Goodman, Mariel Hemingway, Amy Irving, Julie Kavner, Caroline Aaron, Eric Lloyd, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobey Maguire, Stanley Tucci Rated R: Language, sex, nudity
by Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
I don't know a single person that doesn't think that Woody Allen is annoying. I, myself, am one of those people. I think he is intensely annoying. I watch him jitter and shake around the screen, spewing half-sentences like a broken verbal machine gun, with those black little eyes magnified behind those ridiculously thick glasses, and I wonder why I repeatedly go to see the films that he writes, directs, and stars in. It doesn't take me long to figure it out--he's really funny. That's usually what it comes down to. Maybe the character he plays isn't always really funny, but his supporting characters are so funny, and the situations are absolutely hilarious.
Deconstructing Harry is his latest film, and I imagine that to obtain complete enjoyment, one should know Woody Allen pretty well. I, for one, do not--I have not seen a lot of his films (I think this marks the fourth or fifth), and what I know of him outside of his work is just what I read in the tabloids and Entertainment Weekly. But I know that this film is one big stab at himself, and I can assume that it is successful. But like most of his films, this one is successful because of the numerous interesting characters, and the witty, sharp, Woody Allen humor. What this film seems to have that his others do not is a jagged edge, a kind of licentious and hateful quality, an element present simply to make more fun of himself.
It's about Harry Block (Allen), a godless, sex-crazed author who, at the time of the film, is in complete disarray. He's just written a book that gives up the secrets of some of his closest friends and ex-girlfriends, and none of them are particularly happy with the situation. He's never allowed to see his kid, his parents have all but disowned him, his sister and her husband look down upon him because he isn't a true Jewish man, and so forth. On top of all this, he can't get motivated to write anything significant, so his life is on hold.
The film is kind of a journey for Harry to understand himself, or maybe make himself better, should he reach the point of caring about himself. It leads to a situation in which he's driving in a Volvo with a hooker and a corpse, on his way to get honored by the school which expelled him. Like all of Allen's films, he has a huge cast. It's nearly distractingly large, with almost every part filled up by a big-name star. Most of the women turn in the best performances, with genuinely funny moments delivered by Judy Davis, Kirstie Alley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Demi Moore. If you're familiar with Allen's films, then you'll know what to expect--it's the same kind of humor, pacing, and mood to which we're all accustomed in his movies.
This one, however, seems to suffer from a peculiar storytelling technique. Because of the nature of the story, Harry frequently relives pieces of short stories that he has written; most of them star a guy thinly disguised as himself, and tells a true story. He remembers one of the first stories he wrote, about his first encounter with a prostitute. Another story he remembers is one in which he goes to hell to save the woman he loves. Throughout the film, the action also switches to a different cast doing the exact same thing, which is meant to represent the book which he has just written (the one that everyone is upset at him for). If my explanation of this is confusing, then I'm doing my job--it is also rather confusing in the film. I didn't put the pieces together until the last quarter of the movie. It's really not that obvious, nor is Allen's reason for doing it (though I imagine if you're familiar with all of his work then there is something here to give you a hint). The flashbacks sure are funny, though.
Towards the end, he actually meets the character that he created, his alter-ego, and this individual gives Harry all kinds of advice. I like the idea (look into your writing for advice), and the central idea behind his character--he can function in the artistic world but not in the realistic world--is a fascinating one. Ultimately, the film aside from the comedy works because Allen really thought about his concepts and materialized them effectively (although the flashbacks to his stories could have been less confusing). Whether you love him or hate him, you're likely to enjoy Deconstructing Harry. And if you know Allen really well, you'll probably get a lot more out of the film. As for me, it proved to make a worthwhile evening of entertainment, even if though is about a godless, sex-crazed author in complete disarray.
>From 0-10: 7 Grade: B-
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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