Husbands and Wives
1992 Directed by Woody Allen
Synopsis
When Jack and Sally announce that they're splitting up, this comes as a shock to their best friends Gabe and Judy. Maybe mostly because they also are drifting apart and are now being made aware of it. So while Jack and Sally try to go on and meet new people, the marriage of Gabe and Judy gets more and more strained, and they begin to find themselves being attracted to other people.
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Following them with as shaky, nervous and unfocused a camera as the relationships it depicts, Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives", looks into the lives of married couples who are bound to fall apart.
Not knowing exactly when this was written, I can not say for sure, even though it seems as if the script mirrors Allen's own life during the early nineties - especially his marriage to Mia Farrow, and a certain fling with a young asian woman.
Anywho, this movie succeeds in exactly what it sets out to; Telling a story about a man's struggle to maintain a working relationship - and it's a very personal and engaging story, more authentic than say, "Deconstructing Harry", which is great in…
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Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? In the case of Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives, it’s most definitely a bit of both. There’s a wonderful moment in the film in which Allen’s character, Gabe Roth, tells one of his female students, Rain (Juliette Lewis), that he loved the line in one of her stories about how “life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad television” and I was struck by just how accurate that can be. Husbands and Wives, however, is much deeper than that and is by far one of Allen’s most rounded and accomplished films. Maybe it’s the poignancy of it, or the fact that it’s rather close to the bone (particularly when you consider…
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A insanely complex view of couples who've lost their way romantically. Amazing performances by Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis. My only gripe with this is that it's too real to life and thus not as entertaining to me. This covers territory that is all too familiar in America. I could ask anyone of my friends/relatives who are going through a divorce what it's like and get a similar story. I'm all for challenging dialogue but the true to life story kills the replay value.
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One of Woody's best!
I love the erratic style to it-it cuts right in the middle of the dialogue sometimes-it really compliments the emotional instability of the characters.
I also love the testimonials of the characters-feels so natural.
I truly feel this film displays the ups & mostly downs to marriages dead on. How trapped we feel after so many years-how we lose a sense of ourselves and fight to break free from the bond-then once we have our freedom we realize how strong that bond was and how that bond defines us as an individual.
The performances are great-Judy Davis is the highlight to the film-her portrayal of Sally meshes well with the style of the film.
I thought Sydney…
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A smart and slow film about marriage. Overall, a good movie but not a great one.
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A insanely complex view of couples who've lost their way romantically. Amazing performances by Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis. My only gripe with this is that it's too real to life and thus not as entertaining to me. This covers territory that is all too familiar in America. I could ask anyone of my friends/relatives who are going through a divorce what it's like and get a similar story. I'm all for challenging dialogue but the true to life story kills the replay value.
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One of Woody Allen's absolute best works with tricky tonal shifts handled with subtle mastery.
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Woody Allen's fine domestic drama is a well-acted and well-written portrait of married life in 1990s New York. Excellent dramatic work from Allen.
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(Quickie Review)
Woody Allen directs and stars in this tale of, well, husbands and wives, and behind the scenes bickery blah that comes with such contractual entitlement. Allen and Mia Farrow play a couple whose happily married union soon begins to soil and unravel when their best friends (Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis) give them news of their decision to separate.
I enjoyed the movie for the most part, but wanted to like it a lot more. At times, I find Allen's adult characters can get a bit too immature for my taste. Allen employs his usual sense of humor and directing, and with an added interesting use of handheld photography, splicing and interviewing. And thankfully, Juliette Lewis didn't sabotage the film.
-djg
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Intelligent, perceptive, and insightful. Not very funny, but its subject matter, dealing with age and relationships, is mature and melancholy. Does it provide an insight into Allen's and Farrow's crumbling relationship? I'm not sure if it's even for us to say.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Completely unfiltered, a challenging character study that shows interest in Persona and Scenes From A Marriage, as well as, of course, other Bergman films-- while also; to me at least, carrying a strong Cassavettes mood throughout. Despite this; this is a film straight from the mind of Woody Allen.
Allen often talks about in his earlier, more "funnier" films about how he wishes he was more serious of a film-maker, and carried some of the shattering emotional and deeply philosophical undertones as greats such as Bergman or Fellini, and this is him doing exactly that and more-- except in his own brilliantly charming way.
There are scenes in this you will not forget, that are tightly narrated with some of…
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A quality film. It was very humorous and felt so natural and unscripted.
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One of Woody's best!
I love the erratic style to it-it cuts right in the middle of the dialogue sometimes-it really compliments the emotional instability of the characters.
I also love the testimonials of the characters-feels so natural.
I truly feel this film displays the ups & mostly downs to marriages dead on. How trapped we feel after so many years-how we lose a sense of ourselves and fight to break free from the bond-then once we have our freedom we realize how strong that bond was and how that bond defines us as an individual.
The performances are great-Judy Davis is the highlight to the film-her portrayal of Sally meshes well with the style of the film.
I thought Sydney…