Word: allen
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...occurred simultaneously to a decline in traditional driver's education, once a near universal part of the curriculum in America's secondary schools--and a course beloved by generations of high schoolers, since the only way you could fail was by running over the instructor's cat. According to Allen Robinson, CEO of the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association, 15 years ago, nearly 90% of all new drivers had taken an official driver's education course. With budget cuts chopping the course out of many public schools, that figure is down to 50%, perhaps...
...very personal. Ultimately, Deconstructing Harry is about a writer whose greatest epiphany comes when he stops denying the close relationship between his life and literature. Allen, who for 30 years has firmly denied any element of autobiography existing in his work, seems to be making some confessional statement with the film. Manifestly autobiographical segments, including an amusing sendup of Mia Farrow's allegations of Allen's misconduct with their child, support this interpretation. But Allen complicates things by introducing drastic contradictory elements--his character's interest in fetishist prostitutes, drug and alcohol addiction, and painfully inarticulate vulgarity seem intended...
...Strangely detached--In the ways noted above, Allen distances himself from the material, but his directorial estrangement goes far beyond his own character. Through both his writing and directing, Allen systematically destroys any chance for his lead actresses, specifically Judy Davis and Kirstie Alley, to do any acting at all. Instead, he forces them into ugly, pathetic, caricatured roles not worthy of a fraction of their talent. Davis, a brilliant actress, is wasted as the strung-out, borderline-psychotic ex who comes to Harry's apartment looking for retribution. In Allen's 1992 Husbands and Wives, she delivered a devastatingly...
...Dense as hell and strangely unsatisfying--Deconstructing Harry is a long 89 minutes. Jam-packed with tons of characters, more vignettes than Short Cuts and loads of references to Allen's previous movies, the film never sits still-but it never really goes anywhere, either. For all of its stylistic variety and experimentation--the Peter Greenaway-esque Hell sets, jarring time shifts, jump cuts and film loops--the film leaves the viewer with a feeling of emptiness. It touches upon all of the classic Allen themes, but in its hurry to make an all-emcompassing (and, in the end, annoyingly...
...thinking about seeing this movie, think again. Your time would be better spent digging into the hefty Allen catalogue; he's addressed every theme and genre that Harry touches upon better in the past: Want romantic comedy with a hint of pathos? Try Annie Hall or Manhattan. Existentialist dilemmas mixed with murder? Shadows and Fog or Manhattan Murder Mystery should keep you busy. Science fiction meets wacky social satire? Rent Sleeper. Dead-on, perfect drama? Crimes and Misdemeanors and Husbands and Wives are a sure shot. Allen's even made better films in Harry's own kind-of-autobiographical...