Jean Doumanian Productions
Not part of a collection.
Deconstructing Harry
Harry Block wrote a bestseller about his best friends. Now, his best friends are about to become his worst enemies.
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.
- Original title
- Deconstructing Harry
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- $20,000,000
- Revenue
- $10,686,841
CinemaSerf
May 2, 2024 · via TMDB
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.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
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
Caroline Aaron
Doris
Richard Benjamin
Ken
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Leslie
Tobey Maguire
Harvey Stern
Demi Moore
Helen
Robin Williams
Mel
Stanley Tucci
Paul Epstein
Amy Irving
Jane
Mariel Hemingway
Beth Kramer
Julie Kavner
Grace
Eric Bogosian
Burt
Hy Anzell
Max
Philip Bosco
Professor Clark
Robert Harper
Harry's Doctor
Gene Saks
Harry's Father
Stephanie Roth Haberle
Janet
Dan Frazer
Janet's Dad
Joel Leffert
Norman
Lynn Cohen
Janet's Mom
Joe Buck
Yankee Announcer
Jane Hoffman
Grandma
Annette Arnold
Rosalee
Frederick Rolf
Harvey's Doctor
Elisabeth Kieselstein-Cord
Rosalee's Sister
Irving Metzman
Shoe Salesman
Sunny Chae
Lily Chang
Tony Darrow
Camera Operator
Jonathan LaPaglia
First Assistant Cameraperson
Jeff Mazzola
Second Assistant Cameraperson
Timothy Jerome
Director
Peter Castellotti
Crew Member
Judy Bauerlein
Actress
Adam Rose
Mel's Son
Brian McConnachie
Dr. Reese
Peter Jacobson
Goldberg
Jennifer Garner
Woman in Elevator
John Doumanian
Bar Mitzvah Guest
Kenneth Edelson
Bar Mitzvah Guest
Viola Harris
Elsie
Eugene Troobnick
Professor Wiggins
Paul Giamatti
Professor Abbott
Waltrudis Buck
Dean of Adair University
Arden Myrin
Student Mary
Peter McRobbie
Damned Man
Dan Moran
Devil
Ray Garvey
Policeman on Campus
Linda Perri
Policewoman on Campus
Tony Sirico
Policeman at Jail
Santo Loquasto
Production Design
Carlo Di Palma
Director of Photography
Dennis Muren
Creative Consultant
Jeremy Strong
Production Intern
Woody Allen
Director
Lisa M. Rowe
Second Assistant Director
Juliet Taylor
Casting
Patricia Kerrigan DiCerto
Casting Associate
Charles H. Joffe
Co-Executive Producer
Jack Rollins
Co-Executive Producer
Letty Aronson
Co-Executive Producer
J.E. Beaucaire
Executive Producer
Lee Dichter
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Woody Allen
Writer
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Finding Neverland
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Irreversible
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Sleepless in Seattle
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Men in Black II
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Sliver
House of the Damned
American Psycho
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The King of Staten Island
Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer
A Different Man
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
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Neverwas
Best Sellers
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Small Apartments
Dec 12, 1997
