Deconstructing Harry ** (1997, Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Julia Louis-Dreyfus) – Classic Movie Review 1801

Writer-director Woody Allen’s misfiring 1997 comedy explores the trouble with Harry Block, a nerdy, neurotic New York writer, with more than his fair share of troubles in his creative and erotic life. He has three ex-wives who hate him!

While battling writer’s block, awaiting an award for his work from the college that expelled him and facing the impending marriage of his latest flame to a writer friend, he is haunted by past events, scenes from his bestsellers, and real as well as fictional characters. He is of course played by Allen himself.

Woody has signed up an amazing cast to fill 85 speaking roles, including Billy Crystal as Harry’s romantic rival and Robin Williams as a man literally out of focus thanks to a magical special effect.

It doesn’t look as though it could fail, does it? But it does, thanks to Woody’s sour, often bitter and whingeing screenplay. Worse still, and perplexingly, it’s sunk by a near-total lack of funny jokes, Sad to say, Woody looks old and tired, and his semi-autobiographical story seems to suffer the same problems.

We’ve been there, done that, and it was done much better before in the 70s and 80s. The welcome star guests do what they can, but this is Woody’s worst for ages.

Kirstie Alley, Demi Moore, Judy Davis, Julie Kavner, Richard Benjamin, Bob Balaban, Elisabeth Shue, Caroline Aaron. Eric Bogosian, Mariel Hemingway, Amy Irving, Eric Lloyd, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Tobey Maguire, Stanley Tucci, Hazelle Goodman and Gene Saks also star.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1801

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