Deconstructing Harry

Pros: Another great ensemble effort from Woody Allen
Cons: Not for sensitive people

The first thing I noticed in "Deconstructing Harry" is the abundance of pejorative language throughout the film. Yes, Woody Allen has incorporated some foul words into his movies before, but in those films, they are few and far between. I think...

Pros: Probably the best film Allen made in the 1990s. definitely in the top two anyway.
Cons: you'll find something not to like if you look hard enough; i didn't.

In 1997, Woody Allen released his most bitter film since Stardust Memories over 15 years before. The film, Deconstructing Harry, is a bitter, cynical, and often funny look at an art and the artist, a vaguely concealed self-portrait of Allen...

Pros: Allen's Direction/Script/Performance, Music, Look, Premise, & Most of the Cast.
Cons: Kirstie Alley & Some Might Not Like the Film's Abrasive Language.

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 ...

Pros: Intelligent, hilarious
Cons: Language, sexual themes may offend (hey, lighten up!)

I've wanted to review Deconstructing Harry for months, but I've been in a bit of a quandary. How can I review such a quotable movie when every quote that comes to mind violates the Epinions terms of service?

Deconstructing Harry...

Pros: weird editing, interesting blend of reality and fantasy
Cons: after a while it becomes a bit tiresome hearing everyone talk at once

Aside from Zelig and Radio Days, I had never seen a Woody Allen film until this week. (I know that sounds impossible considering he makes about fifty movies a decade, but it's nonetheless true.) I understand that Woody's films fall under...

Pros: A witty Allen screenplay with many celebrity cameos and cutting screenplay
Cons: May disturb some due to frank, sexual dialogue and profanity

Weaving between fiction and reality, Woody Allen’s Deconstructing Harry tells the tale of a writer’s sexual exploits, romantic failings, and dealings with depression. Allen’s character Harry transfers his life’s problems into his books, which causes much...

Pros: Good Woody Allen Human Quality
Cons: Overbearing Woody Presence

Woody Allen's films seem to have the human quality that most writers or directors desperately try to attain, but cannot. Most of Allen's films are about real people in real situations. Sometimes the situations bring smiles, sometimes tears, but they...

Pros: Interesting
Cons: The damn jump cuts

Dante had nine circles of Hell. Harry has nine floors. Dante’s devil is tall and furry. Harry’s devil is short and furry (Billy Crystal, as it is). If you haven’t read “Inferno,” it is still possible to enjoy Deconstructing Harry without going into...

Pros: Sharp, biting humor, personal glimpses into Woody's psyche
Cons: Sometimes too harsh and self-absorbed

For some reason, Deconstructing Harry has been hyped a lot more than the other Woody Allen films of the last five years, although all have been good. Manhattan Murder Mystery, Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite and Everyone Says I Love You all...

Pros: Woody Allen will never let Julia Louis Dreyfuss in another movie again.
Cons: It's a movie that provokes incoherent c r a p like this.

My motto is "An editor is like an ill-trained housedog, you have to keep both on a tight leash or they tend to p i s s on everything." But, in the case of Woody Allen's rank Deconstructing Harry, a bit of editing might not be too bad of a...

Pros: The short story vignettes
Cons: The supposed hero's real life in the film

Woody Allen was once a very funny talent. A man whose
fractured take on life on stage and screen won him
accolades. Unfortunately, times change. "Deconstructing
Harry," a story about a neurotic and frustrated writer
...

Pros: the terrific novel-within-the-movie scenes
Cons: everything except those

This was the first film by Allen that I had ever seen. I though I’d be seeing a Woody Allen flick shortly after hell froze over, but I still wanted to see Deconstructing Harry, primarily for the supporting cast, which looked awesome. And as it turns out,...

Pros: Woody Allen in prime form
Cons: salty subject matter, might not win over non-Woody fans

Woody Allen's recent movies have been so kind and polite, they're almost anemic. (His musical Everyone Says I Love You was a charming concept, but was the movie's Groucho Marx number at all necessary?) But with Deconstructing Harry, Allen regains some of...

Pros: One of Woody's best!
Cons: Probably his last real good one...

I find that there are 3 types of Woody Allen fans.

1. Those who grew up and fell in love with his slap stick
humor.

2. Those who see past the same ol' characters/
plots/sub-stories...and just love his more dramatic...

Pros: Wow - bald honesty from characters like a sucker punch to the viewer.
Cons: I had a problem following the choppy sequencing

Having heard nothing about this film I was unprepared for the choppy sequencing (I thought my dvd player was skipping) and the fact that the beginning characters were in fact out of a book representing real people in Harry's life. Ok, once I realized...