Popular reviews

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★★ 5

  76/100

  Here's what's weird: I can now see in this old favorite the seeds of everything I dislike about his recent films. Much of the dialogue is clunkily expository and/or tin-eared; supporting characters (e.g. Daniel Stern's gauche rock star) often function as straw-man caricatures; source music is used as a cudgel. Yet it's mostly glorious, and I spent the whole damn movie trying in vain to pinpoint the difference. In the end, I think Tarantino may be right, at least in this case and some others: Woody's just old now, and his work has become correspondingly creaky, with its highs diminished and its flaws hugely magnified. In any case, he was unmistakably at the top of his game here—though he's…

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  Review by Sam Meltzer ★★★★ 13

  I love New York. I love living in New York, I love the style of the city, the distinct feel of each season, the buildings, the streets, everything. But one thing I love more than New York is amazing character development in movies, and Hannah and Her Sisters has that and New York.

  Woody Allen rank

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★★ 1

  "how the hell should I know why there were nazis? I don't even know how the can opener works."

  first off, i have to confess that i have an aversion to dianne wiest, and that plays a factor. but negated by Michael Caine? i think so.

  one of Woody Allen's most profound and textured films, but so overbearing it's hard for me to stomach in one fell swoop. like a Chekhov play (though Ibsen is the playwright name-checked) that's ellipsed into tatters. it's so successful in conveying Allen's neuroses that it becomes an extremely anxious experience, which clashes with the overriding amiability.

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  Review by Richard Chandler ★★★★★ 16

  "I had a great time tonight; it was like the Nuremberg trials."

  While not as groundbreaking as the paradigm-shattering Annie Hall or as gleefully imaginative as the likes of Zelig and The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters is arguably Woody Allen's most graceful film and is certainly the most buoyant of his major works. The multigenerational family saga yielded a trio of little gold men (for Caine, Wiest and Allen's script) and proved one of Allen's biggest box-office scores.

  Hannah (Mia Farrow) gets pride of place within the film's title, but it is nonetheless an ensemble piece through and through, with two primary narratives and five principals amid a host of ancillary characters. Acclaimed stage actor Hannah…

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  Review by kyle97 ★★★★★ 2

  What can I say about Hannah and Her Sisters? I think this is my second favorite Woody Allen film after Annie Hall!

  The movie is a feast of witty, hilarious dialogue (as you would expect from Woody Allen) and vivid characters that hooked me right off the bat. Allen makes an engaging story out of ordinary people and strikes a nice balance between drama and comedy. And once again, he effortless pulls me into his romanticized version of New York City to tell a story about four sisters and four men whose lives are intertwined through love and secrets.

  Allen deals with a lot of characters and subplots in the movie, but he weaves each narrative thread together in a…

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  Review by Josh Gillam ★★★

  Sisters Hannah (Mia Farrow), Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne Wiest) navigate their lives over the course of two years, in Woody Allen’s comedy-drama co-starring Allen, Michael Caine, Max Von Sydow, Maureen O’Sullivan and Lloyd Nolan.

  The film won an Oscar for the script, which is excellently written, making each character feel realistic and complicated, each with their own distinct values and flaws. Caine got his first Oscar for playing Hannah’s husband, and gives an excellent performance, making his character still sympathetic despite his often unlikeable actions.

  He’s really just playing Allen’s alter ego, but unlike a lot of actors who play the director’s self-inserts Caine is able to go beyond just doing an impression, fleshing out the role into…

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  Review by 𝐏𝐚𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐆𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐧 🇮🇹 ★★★★½

  An old jazz song, the opening credits - strictly in white Windsor Light Condensed on a black background - with the names of the actors scrolling in alphabetical order. Hannah and her Sisters begins with an instantly recognizable touch, a welcoming and reassuring ritual to which you can surrender yourself with pleasure. Subsequently, a voiceover introduces us to the intertwined events of three sisters, struggling with friends, lovers, husbands and parents, within a time span of two years. The film deals with aspects dear to Woody Allen's mythology: sex, psychoanalysis, religion, death, the desperate attempt to give a purpose and meaning to life. The director portrays a gallery of characters as fascinating as they are finely written, managing to wisely…

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  Review by Neil Bahadur ★★ 1

  So disappointing - this used to be my favorite of Allen's films as a teenager. Soon-yi being on screen during Caine's monologue about wanting to "touch her and caress her," followed by Allen's appearence making a child molestation joke is disgusting. Allen's alternate title must have been "Mia and her Daughters." What a fucked up, sociopathic film.

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  Review by Sam Meltzer ★★★★½ 2

  A woman handling her friendships while dealing with her parents, a man undergoing a sudden existential crisis, a woman recovering from alcoholism and venturing on a new path, a man who is struggling with a fresh and passionate love, a woman who wants to live an ordinary life but is faced with unusual interruptions. I simply adore the episodic structure of this film as it is extremely precise and gives each main character a genuine purpose and multi layered personality. It places the viewer into the headspace of everyone with such depth and never forgets to add an element of humor to loosen up and warm the experience. Perfect for the fall.

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★½ 2

  Woody Allen exhibits a great deal of restraint in the writing of the characters which populate the intertwined narratives within this comedy-drama, and which, thanks to the strength of Carlo Di Palma’s gorgeous cinematography, furthermore satisfies as his customary declaration of affection to the city of New York. 

  It sports a marvellous cast that includes Mia Farrow as Hannah and Michael Caine as her husband Elliot, as well as a supporting role for Allen as her vastly amusing hypochondriac ex-husband Mickey. The interweaving experiences shouldered by Hannah and her two sisters over a two year narrative period have loosened and subtle mannerisms which evolve into an accomplished combination of reflection and straightforward comedy. 

  Even though the complications which materialise for…

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  Review by Caty Alexandre ★★★★★ 14

  Woody Allen really is a fantastic writer and director, we all know that. He is always able to create amazing characters, fantastic dialogues, simple stories with situations that could happen and real life and none of his stories ever felt forced. All feel real and actually very believable. Hannah and Her Sisters is no exception.

  An amazing comedy/drama script, that tell us the stories of multiple characters all connected because of three sisters Hannah, Lee and Holly. Family interations, romances, dramatic discoveries or even hilarious moments it's what you are going to find throughout the story.

  All of the performances are absolutely fantastic, everyone is able to play their parts in the perfect way possible. Dianne Wiest, Woody Allen himself…

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  Review by Alexei Toliopoulos ★★★★½ 1

  One of the bravest things I could ever do is log in Woody Allen films on letterboxd.