# Deconstructing Harry (1997)

### reviewed by
David N. Butterworth

    DECONSTRUCTING HARRY
    A film review by David N. Butterworth
    Copyright 1997 David N. Butterworth

    ** (out of ****)

Separating Woody Allen's private life from his creative body of work is getting harder and harder, especially given how closely his Art imitates life. *His* life, that is.

Call me unsophisticated, but I found his films a lot more appealing before he started sleeping with his daughter.

The burning question at the heart of Allen's latest film, "Deconstructing Harry," is just how much of Harry is Harry, and how much is Woody. Distancing the character from its creator is a key theme in the film and Allen seems to revel in Harry's unpleasantness. Given the talented director's despicable off-screen behavior, some could construe "Deconstructing Harry" as Allen's personal admission of guilt. Of course, we're supposed to know better.

In "Deconstructing Harry," Harry Block (Allen) is a successful writer whose latest bestseller has pissed off just about everyone he knows, including his three ex-wives. Harry has used a lot of autobiographical experiences as source material and, naturally enough, the people in his life are not happy having their dirty laundry aired.

Perhaps this is why no one wishes to accompany Harry to upstate New York to be honored by his alma mater; the best companion he can come up with is a prostitute called Cookie (shades of Mira Sorvino's hooker in "Mighty Aphrodite").

I guess even now there's some sort of prestige to being linked with a Woody Allen film. "Deconstructing Harry" stars, among others, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Judy Davis, Bob Balaban, Mariel Hemingway, Amy Irving, Julie Kavner, Tobey Maguire, and Eric Bogosian. The reason Allen is able to employ such a large cast for what is a relatively simple storyline is the way he (de-)constructs his story: actors play both the characters in the film as well as characters in Harry's novel, which are often the same, only different. Harry himself is played by Allen in "reality" but by Richard Benjamin and Stanley Tucci in fiction.

This isn't as confusing as it sounds although the way that Allen elects to shoot the piece is, roaming around like some NYU Film School grad who's just discovered the jump cut.

You can't help but feel embarrassed for television's Kirstie Alley and Julia Louis-Dreyfus who, in order to bolster their flagging resumés, subject themselves to some brief but nevertheless humiliating sequences for the privilege of working for the Woodster. Young, nubile women fall for rich, famous, wizened old men all the time but witnessing Elisabeth Shue kissing Allen full on the mouth in excruciating close-up is about as hard to watch as the wood-chipping scene in "Fargo."

"Deconstructing Harry" has its funny moments but often the writing is stagnant, hitting dumb-joke rock bottom during the 'Descent into Hell' sequence. Unless you enjoy the spectacle of a self-absorbed, sexually-obsessed neurotic making light of his own crimes and misdemeanors, you might want to stay away from "Harry."

    --
    David N. Butterworth
    dnb@mail.med.upenn.edu

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