Deconstructing Harry (1997) Review

As an avid movie nerd it is pretty much a necessity to stumble upon a Woody Allen movie from time to time. Just look at his disciplined work pace, with his steady one-movie-a-year rhythm (or even higher) since 1982 (and a good chunk of quite significant movies before) he provides 83.6% (approximately) of the intellectual arthouse movie output nowadays. That's why it was delight for me to rediscover one of his lesser-discussed movies, Deconstructing Harry.



Set in New York (well, duh) the movie is about Harry Block, an author suffering from writer's block (I see what you did there, Woody). Harry is not the nicest of guys but since he's played by Woody Allen one can easily forget about that. That's the thing about him as an actor, he can only play Woody Allen. Call it a limitation or call it a blessing but that's definitely the point which divides people between lovers and haters (and the small who-the-heck-is-Woody-Allen fraction).

Harry has the habit of turning his relationships and affiliates into characters in his books which brings him much success on a career level but also the anger and frustration of all his former friends and wives. While he desperately tries to overcome his writer's block and has to deal with suicidal exes and friends who have turned their backs on him, the line between reality and fiction begins to blur. Characters from Harry's stories pop up next to their "real-life" counterparts in Woody's movie and Woody the actor and writer contributes his usual intellectually bumbling self.

The focus of the film constantly changes due to an episodic structure where we relive Harry's past as scenes reenacted from his stories and then witness the aftermath with Harry's actual acquaintances. This gives the film a patchy feel which surprisingly works in its favor. Since the film is barely about Woody himself (who humbly steps into the background to give his characters space) I myself understood it more as an ode to storytelling itself and writing as a mechanism to deal with reality. And yes, of course that means the film can be seen as a thinly layered portrayal of Allen the screenwriter. But he still provides us with all the essentials that made his films such a pleasure in the first place. There's a richness in the imagination and a liveliness in the actors who seem to be having a blast speaking Allen's dialogue.

Granted, sometimes the film comes off a little bit self-congratulatory and that's no surprise with a subject matter that goes decidedly meta. But luckily every time it edges close to becoming smug it pulls back and successfully makes fun of itself. It's a risky move but it works here. If you want to see how a director can fall flat on his face with the same approach but terrible execution then check out Ocean's Twelve where Steven Soderbergh is not doing much more than showing rich actors "playing" themselves, definitely a rare low-point in Soderbergh's otherwise diverse and stellar career. But back to Deconstructing Harry.

Is it one of Allen's best movies? No. Is it a good Allen movie? Definitely. Is it worth your time? You bet. All the themes addressed here were already explored more in-depth in his other films but even an episodic best-of-Woody is more than enough to keep you engaged and entertained all the way through.