Deconstructing Harry

"Harry Block wrote a bestseller about his best friends. Now, his best friends are about to become his worst enemies."

1997 1h 36m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 1,074

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Writer Harry Block draws inspiration from people he knows, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.

“Harry Block wrote a bestseller about his best friends. Now, his best friends are about to become his worst enemies.”

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Cast

Woody Allen
Harry Block
Judy Davis
Lucy
Kirstie Alley
Joan
Elisabeth Shue
Fay Sexton
Billy Crystal
Larry / The Devil
Bob Balaban
Richard
Hazelle Goodman
Cookie
Eric Lloyd
Hilly

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Woody Allen
Writers: Woody Allen
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 53% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

29 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Woody Allen, shot by Carlo Di Palma. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Susan E. Morse shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Woody Allen and Judy Davis and Kirstie Alley carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Harry Block wrote a bestseller about his best friends. Now, his best friends are about to become his worst enemies.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0118954 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Woody Allen directs. Carlo Di Palma behind the camera. Susan E. Morse cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 53% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
229 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Woody Allen, shot by Carlo Di Palma. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Susan E. Morse shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Woody Allen and Judy Davis and Kirstie Alley carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Harry Block wrote a bestseller about his best friends. Now, his best friends are about to become his worst enemies.".
7IMDB entry: tt0118954 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Carlo Di Palma
Editing: Susan E. Morse
Production design: Santo Loquasto
Costume design: Suzy Benzinger
Makeup / hair: Romaine Greene
VFX supervisor: Thomas Rosseter
Sound: Lee Dichter
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $10,686,841
Return: 53% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Deconstructing Harry (1997)

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Woody Allen

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-05-02
★ 7/10
The aptly named "Harry Block" (Woody Allen) is a seriously lapsed Jewish writer suffering from constipation of the typewriter. Adding to his woes is a nervousness about an impending honour from his alma mater (from where he was unceremoniously expelled) and the fact that his personal life makes Henry VIII's look like "Bertie and Elizabeth". Of course, "Harry" is seeing a therapist (Robert Harper) and with just a day before his conferment, he realises that his entire shambolic life is a result of his inability to fall in love. He likes women, he likes sex but he doesn't really like commitment, wanting always to treat a relationship like something he can buy in, or return to, Walmart. That's the basis of this story of a flawed individual that using a series of statically directed sit-com style scenarios takes us thorough twenty-four hours in the manic life of the shallow and unlikeable individual. I have never really been a fan of Woody Allen and this did nothing to change that. Granted his writing is quick fired and his observations potent at times, but his sense of humour is just too crass for me. There's nothing at all subtle about it, no cleverness - and the opening scenes of this set a scene for what I thought became increasingly puerile and predictable. A sort of slickly-delivered linguistic slapstick. Vulgar can be fun, but not when it's got some pseudo-intellectual underpinning about cause and effect of an human behaviour that becomes more and more contrived to fit the narrative the auteur wants to deliver. Are the jump cuts just there to divert our attention from the dwindling characterisations and increasing soapy melodrama? He doesn't imbue his character with anything I could care about, and though I did think Judy Davis and a cast of many reliable faces did their best to shore it all up, in the end it's very appropriately titled - it just doesn't happen quite quickly enough.

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