HUSBANDS AND WIVES
A film review by Andrew Hicks
Copyright 1996 Andrew Hicks / Fatboy Productions
(1992) *** (out of four)
This Woody Allen film takes on an extra layer of meaning in light of the over-publicized custody hearings with Mia Farrow. Woody plays an over-the-hill professor / writer who's having doubts about his marriage to Mia, doubts she shares once two of their friends (Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis), who seemed so happy with their marriage, announce they're splitting up, in a long, unbroken, one-camera shot. The most annoying thing about HUSBANDS AND WIVES is that Woody tries to make the whole thing into a documentary, using one camera to go from person to person instead of cutting between cameras and sticking interviews with the main characters between scenes.
The motion is intentionally jerky and the edits are clumsy and obvious. God knows why the man did this -- maybe it's to illustrate how unstable a relationship is by the time a couple has been together that long. Or maybe he's just a clumsy jerk. But for whichever reason, the movie looks like THE REAL WORLD WITH WOODY ALLEN. It's a little too late for him to appear hip and trendy, especially considering this movie starts out with the same white on black credits / jazz music sequence his old movies were known for.
HUSBAND AND WIVES focuses on those two husbands and those two wives in their extramarital pursuits. A typically creepy Woody finds himself drawn to one of his students, played by a typically creepy Juliette Lewis. Somehow those two seem to belong together. The freak factor matches up rather well in this case, although I'm sure she's no Soon-Yi. (Not every part of this movie was autobiographical.) Mia wants to pursue a relationship with a Scotsman at work (and see what's under that kilt), but he's already been set up with Judy, thanks to Mia. And Sydney is currently having a fling with his New Age vegetarian aerobics instructor.
Most Woody Allen movies offer us a window into his life, but this one seems to offer one into Woody and Mia's collective life. It's all incredibly voyeuristic and addictive. The message here, as Juliette Lewis so succintly puts it, is that when you reach that age you can either have loneliness or suburban discontent with no passion or romance. But love at that point isn't about romance, as Judy so succintly puts it, it's more of a companionship issue, actually having someone to grow old with. Woody doesn't have Mia anymore but he does have Soon-Yi to retire with. When he's 70, she'll be 30, so it all works out -- as I so succintly put it.
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