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Deconstructing Harry Dir:Woody Allen Stars: Woody Allen, Elizabeth Shue, Billy Crystal. Woody Allen has seen a lot happen in the last few years. The sordid details of his personal life have been splattered all over the tabloids and entertainment magazines, and we've seen more of him since his custody battle in 1993 than in all of the years since What's New Pussycat? Came out. For a guy who doesn't much like to be seen outdoors, that must be quite a lot to take. It has to effect his work, right? For much of Deconstructing Harry, you'd swear Allen was talking about himself. He plays a writer who alienates everyone by putting them in his work, who can't seem to keep a relationship together, and who desperately wants custody of his son. Still, every time you think he's showing you his life, Allen scolds you for making assumptions. Inevitably, just as things are starting to cut close, one character or another yells at Harry for writing about them in his book, distorting real life for his art. In one of the most hilarious bits in the film, Harry's half-sister accuses him of desecrating her faith and the memory of their parents in a short story he wrote about a woman who finds out her husband of 35 years was an ax murderer and cannibal before they met. The story is so over the top that the accusation can't help but seem hollow and unfounded. Then again, at one point, Harry says, "I'm ODing on myself." He is in a frenzy trying to separate his life from his work. The film flips back and forth between Harry's short stories and his real life so frequently that it's hard to tell one from the other. The characters he created even pop up in real life to tell him what he's doing wrong. The bottom line? Deconstructing Harry finds Allen in a happy medium between his more outlandish comic devices and serious observation about the human condition. As to whether it's autobiographical or not, Harry seems to answer that question when he's asked about the main character in his new book. "It's me thinly disguised. I don't even think I should disguise it anymore. It's me." It's enough to force a guy to the shrink. -Nick |
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