Deconstructing Harry is - to me anyway - one of Woody Allen's most artistically convoluted comedies. The interaction between the "actual" characters and Harry's fictional ones - sometimes shifting from real to fictional within a single scene - is a bit unsettling at first but, as one grasps the trick, becomes a brilliant comic device.
As with many of Allen's films - Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Radio Days - it is deeply personal and coldly self-searching, almost to the point of cruelty. Though the self-examination reveals some ugly character traits, the script is so sharply witty - and often overtly vulgar - that we can't help laughing.
It's a great cast, predating the time when, at the behest of the #MeToo crowd, it became socially unacceptable to work with Allen. Particularly fine efforts from Kirstie Alley, Judy Davis, Demi Moore and Billy Crystal. Robin Williams' cameo scene is wonderfully surreal.
As others have commented, this is one of Allen's most underrated films.
As with many of Allen's films - Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Radio Days - it is deeply personal and coldly self-searching, almost to the point of cruelty. Though the self-examination reveals some ugly character traits, the script is so sharply witty - and often overtly vulgar - that we can't help laughing.
It's a great cast, predating the time when, at the behest of the #MeToo crowd, it became socially unacceptable to work with Allen. Particularly fine efforts from Kirstie Alley, Judy Davis, Demi Moore and Billy Crystal. Robin Williams' cameo scene is wonderfully surreal.
As others have commented, this is one of Allen's most underrated films.