The 70s were great for and so were the 80s. The 1990s though was tough for Woody Allen despite some artistic triumphs with films like Manhattan Murder Mystery, Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, and in 1992, Husbands & Wives. Around the time Husbands & Wives came out, Woody's life was in personal turmoil after his public break-up with Mia Farrow and his confession into having an affair with her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn whom he later married. Though Allen survived the scandal, his career though seems to have lost some momentum as his attempts to get a wider audience haven't been easy. 1996's musical Everyone Says I Love You didn't fare well despite an all-star cast that included Julia Roberts, Alan Alda, Natalie Portman, Tim Roth, Drew Barrymore, and Edward Norton. While that film showed Allen trying to be wholesome and fun, his next feature showed a darker, more abrasive side into his work as an artist with 1997's Deconstructing Harry.

Written, directed, and starring Allen as Harry Block, the film is about a writer whose self-absorbed working lifestyle and attitude practically alienates everyone around him. Now dealing with writer's block, he's also dealing with the mess of his relationships while trying to make amends with an ex-girlfriend who is going to get married. Then when he's about to be honored by a school, who threw him out in his freshman year, for his writing, all hell breaks loose in his intentions as the stories he based on his life comes back to haunt him. With an ensemble cast that includes Allen regulars Julie Kavner, Judy Davis, Caroline Aaron, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, and Mariel Hemingway plus Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Kirstie Alley, Bob Balaban, Amy Irving, Eric Bogosian, Elisabeth Shue, Tobey McGuire, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Richard Benjamin, Eric Lloyd, Paul Giamatti, Jennifer Garner, and Hazelle Goodman. Deconstructing Harry is a fun but abrasive film from the often charming and funny Woody Allen.

It's a nice day during a barbecue as a man named Ken (Richard Benjamin) is watching a baseball game as his sister-in-law Leslie (Julia-Louis Dreyfus) comes in to get a drink. Immediately, the two begin to have sex as they watch to check if family members are watching when Leslie's blind grandmother comes into the room. The story is another of Harry's which was inspired by his own affair with sister-in-law Lucy (Judy Davis) who comes into his apartment to kill him over the story he wrote about her and her sister/Harry's third ex-wife Jane (Amy Irving). In order to stop her from trying to kill him with a gun, Harry tells Lucy a story about his own youth as a young man named Harvey (Tobey McGuire). Harvey is young kid often absorbed in his own work as a writer and in is his sex life as his friend Mendel was sent to a hospital where Harvey used Mendel's apartment and pretended to be him in order to have sex with an Asian hooker until the Grim Reaper comes along asking for Mendel.

Despite his incident with Lucy, Harry's life has become troubling as for the first time ever, he's dealing with writer's block. Going through three failed marriages and six different shrinks, he finds himself unable to come with a new idea. During his session, Harry talks about the story of an actor named Mel (Robin Williams) who suddenly becomes out of focus through everyone as his wife Grace (Julie Kavner) is wondering how all of it can be fixed. Harry also talks about his most recent relationship with his ex-girlfriend Fay (Elisabeth Shue) and his second marriage to shrink Joan (Kirstie Alley). He tells his shrink (Robert Harper) of a story inspired his marriage to Joan where her fictional counterpart Helen (Demi Moore) is treating a writer named Paul Epstein (Stanley Tucci) as the two engage in a relationship and marriage that begins to fall apart when she has a child and becomes deeply religious to Judaism. Making Harry's matters worse is that the next day, he's about to be honored for his writing at Adair where he got kicked out from in his first year.

Wanting to take his son Hilly (Eric Lloyd), Harry asks Joan who refuses after she heard the things Harry has told Hilly through one of her friends Beth Kramer (Mariel Hemingway) where Harry called her a "c*nt". After running into his friend Richard (Bob Balaban), Richard is becoming fearful of having a heart attack as Harry asks him to join him for the ceremony. Richard isn't sure as Harry meets up with Fay where she reveals that she's getting married tomorrow to his friend Larry (Billy Crystal). Harry is enraged as he calls for the services of a hooker named Cookie (Hazelle Goodman) that night as he asks if she can join him for the ceremony. Harry later recalls the time he met Fay on a night he was supposed to have another of his tryst with Lucy. When Richard decides to join Harry for the drive upstate with Cookie, Richard gives him the idea for Harry to kidnap Hilly to go to the ceremony.

On their way to Adair, Harry's fictional life starts to come to him as Ken reveals the night Lucy was about to confess her affair with Harry to Jane who reveals that Harry had left her for a younger woman. During a stop to see Harry's half-sister Doris (Caroline Aaron) and her rabbi-husband Burt (Eric Bogosian), Doris is amazed at how Harry is still upset at her serious values on Judaism. This leads to a story about an old lady who discovers that her husband was a serial killer. Doris says the story is about their parents since Harry has contempt for his late father while she's also angry at how one of his story and characters is based on her.

Harry is faced with guilt as Helen appears to him revealing that despite everything, Doris pities Harry while Harry is also forced to see his falling-out with Joan over an affair with one of her patients. Upon arriving to Adair, Harry's fictional life comes to him literally as he meets a literature professor (Philip Bosco) and his colleagues (with Paul Giamatti as a professor) where Harry tells that he's working on a story about his meeting with the Devil. On that journey, Harry sees his father (Gene Saks) and sees the Devil in the vision of his friend Larry. Everything becomes a turning point for Harry as he is forced to find his world through reality and fiction.

Inspired by one of Allen's favorite filmmakers Ingmar Bergman and his 1957 film Wild Strawberries, Allen goes for a world where reality and fiction really do blur. Since Allen is known more for his writing, he reveals the troubles that a writer goes through whenever being dealt with writer's block and where fiction comes from. This results where many of the fictional characters in Harry's life are based purely from real people where those people know what characters they are. Their reaction is expected since everything that Harry does is upsetting and he degrades pretty much every female counterpart he's been with to create all of these characters. The film's ending sums up what the film is really all about. A man who couldn't adjust reality where to the point that he creates a fictional world where he ends up hurting the people around him.

Truly this is one of Woody Allen's most bizarre and edgy scripts but it's also one of darkest. There's a cynicism throughout the film while Allen also brings out some of the most abrasive and incendiary dialogue of his career. The use of graphic language isn't just shocking (to the world of Allen) but in his intent where you begin to wonder what inspired Allen to come up with this dialogue. Did he go out and stumble upon a few gangsta-rap albums or listen to Nine Inch Nails' Broken EP? Still, the dialogue brings out a comic edge to Allen where he goes out and plays his usual, neurotic character but this time around, Allen makes sure that Harry is a guy that is truly unlikeable despite his attempt to become sympathetic.

If Allen's script is sharp in its uncompromising behavior, his directing reveals that bitterness in a strange, bizarre style. The story about Mel, the out-of-focus actor shows that everything is clear except Mel, who looks like a total blur. There's moments where the entire film deconstructs itself into revealing Harry's psyche. The script helps visualize Allen's distorted view of fact and fiction into a directing style that is truly arty where jump-cuts are used and his visual style recalls those he's been influenced by. It's truly a dark comedy that despite its intent and protagonist, is really funny. Helping Allen in his visual is the late Italian cinematographer Carlo di Palma in his final film collaboration with Allen who brings a wonderful look of New York City and the upper stare country area that recalls Bergman. Longtime editor Susan E. Morse also plays up to Allen's deconstructed style where the jump-cuts shows Harry's stumbling, neurotic world of reality.

Also helping out in Allen's visual department is production designer Santo Loquansto who not only does great work into visualizing the world of New York but the scene where Harry is in Hell is truly amazing. Using nothing but red, orange, and whatever you can think of is truly a great idea of what Hell could be from Harry's viewpoint. With the use of swing music in the background, it's really a nightmare of a man's temptations for women and pills coming true. The film's soundtrack is also great for its use of jazz and swing that plays to the film's very upbeat tone in its presentation while helping the film move along very easily.

The film's cast is probably the biggest ensemble that Allen has put out. With small yet wonderful appearances from the likes of Robert Harper, Philip Bosco, Stephanie Roth, Mariel Hemingway, Amy Irving, Julie Kavner, The Sopranos' Tony Sirico as a cop, Irving Metzman as Harvey's shoe salesman boss, Howard Spiegel as Joan's patient, Paul Giamatti, and Jennifer Garner in her film debut as Harry's fictional version of Fay. Hy Anzell and Shifra Lerer are funny as Harry's fictionalized version of his parents while Gene Saks is funny as Harry's father. Eric Lloyd is excellent as Harry's son Hilly who often questions about Harry's view into the world while Robin Williams is even funnier as Mel, the blurred actor. Caroline Aaron is also good as Harry's sympathetic but religious sister who questions Harry's approval while Eric Bogosian is excellent as Harry's moralistic brother-in-law. The worst performance of the entire movie is Kirstie Alley as Joan where Alley overacts in a scene when she confronts Harry about the affair with her shrill voice and anger that doesn't work. Alley can be funny but as a dramatic actress, she is horrible.

Faring way better as Alley's fictional counterpart is Demi Moore who brings a calm and funny performance as Helen while Stanley Tucci is also good as Harry's fictional counterpart Paul in that segment. Judy Davis is wonderful as Harry's hysterical and troubling sister-in-law who wants to kill him after the break-up of their tryst and his awful ways. Richard Benjamin is funny as Ken with his affairs and a scene where he reveals Harry about Lucy's anger while Julia-Louis Dreyfus is good as Davis's fictional counterpart. Tobey McGuire is also funny and good has the young Harry, Harvey who is just an awful kid who cares nothing but wanting to sleep with the next girl he can come across from. Bob Balaban is wonderful as Richard who seems to be the only friend that Harry has as he does a great job in his fear of having another heart attack while giving Harry some moral insight near the end. Elisabeth Shue is lovely as the loyal Fay who loves Harry but is aware of his life as a writer while she displays the rare warmth of the rest of female characters.

Billy Crystal is excellent as Harry's friend Larry who also plays the part of the Devil in a hilarious scene about the two dealing with their own sins. Hazelle Goodman is the film's best supporting performance as the hooker Cookie who doesn't care for Harry's flaws while she does everything he can to get him to be relaxed. Woody Allen is the film's best performance obviously because he's in his own movie. Allen displays all of his usual, neurotic, insecure artistic world as a character that often works. Here, Allen displays himself in his most abrasive performance yet as a guy who is a schmuck. He doesn't think of the damage he does to people and all he cares about is his work, pills, and wanting to f*ck the next piece of *ss he sees. It's a great performance from Allen who plays one of his most unlikeable characters while making him a funny protagonist.

When Deconstructing Harry came out in 1997, the film got mixed reviews where some were put off by Allen's abrasive tone. Still, the film earned Allen another Oscar nomination for his screenplay but the film didn't help Allen's drought in the box office. More importantly, this film some said would mark the beginning of Allen's recent slump, with the exception of 1999's Sweet & Lowdown. Still, anyone who wants to see Allen curse and do bad things while wanting some dark humor should check this out. While it's not near any of Allen's more famous work, Deconstructing Harry is still a wonderful film from the always funny and intelligent Woody Allen.

Woody Allen Reviews: Bananas - Annie Hall - The Purple Rose of Cairo - Hannah & Her Sisters - Crimes & Misdemeanors - Match Point - Scoop - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - (Whatever Works)

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age