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Deconstructing Harry (1997)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer (WGA):
Woody Allen (written by)
Release Date:
12 December 1997 (USA)
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Tagline:
Harry Block wrote a bestseller about his best friends. Now, his best friends are about to become his worst enemies. more
Plot:
Suffering from writer's block and eagerly awaiting his writing award, Harry Block remembers events from his past and scenes from his best-selling books as characters, real and fictional, come back to haunt him. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar.
Another 2 wins
&
4 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(21 articles)
Paul Giamatti: 'I'm clearly not Brad Pitt'
(From The Guardian - Film News. 12 November 2009, 1:27 AM, PST)
2009 Gotham Awards Announce Career Tributes
(From MovieWeb. 23 September 2009, 11:40 AM, PDT)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 12 November 2009, 1:27 AM, PST)
2009 Gotham Awards Announce Career Tributes
(From MovieWeb. 23 September 2009, 11:40 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
One of Allen's Best
more (118 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Woody Allen | ... | Harry Block | |
| Richard Benjamin | ... | Ken / Harry's Character | |
| Kirstie Alley | ... | Joan | |
| Billy Crystal | ... | Larry / The Devil (Harry's Character) | |
| Judy Davis | ... | Lucy | |
| Bob Balaban | ... | Richard | |
| Elisabeth Shue | ... | Fay | |
| Demi Moore | ... | Helen / Harry's Character | |
| Robin Williams | ... | Mel / Harry's Character | |
| Caroline Aaron | ... | Doris | |
| Eric Bogosian | ... | Burt | |
| Mariel Hemingway | ... | Beth Kramer | |
| Amy Irving | ... | Jane | |
| Julie Kavner | ... | Grace / Harry's Character | |
| Eric Lloyd | ... | Hilly |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
The Meanest Man in the World (USA) (working title)
Woody Allen Fall Project 1996 (USA) (working title)
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Woody Allen Fall Project 1996 (USA) (working title)
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MPAA:
Rated R for strong language and some sexuality.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
96 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby SR (Mono)
Certification:
Iceland:12 |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:M |
Chile:14 |
Finland:K-12 |
France:U |
Germany:12 |
Hong Kong:IIB |
Mexico:B |
Portugal:M/16 |
Singapore:R(A) |
Spain:13 |
Sweden:7 |
UK:18 |
USA:R
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The film opened the 1997 Venice Film Festival.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The King of Queens: Deconstructing Carrie (#7.15)" (2005)
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (118 total)
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Just as I've found a newfound appreciation for Elvis Costello, I've likewise opened my heart to Woody Allen (my New Year's resolution: be nicer to nerdy art-types). I even saw Deconstructing Harry twice, (after which I read a Woody Allen collection of short pieces and rented both Bananas and Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex). Hey, what can I say I thought The Purple Rose Of Cairo might've been a fluke, but I guess I'm just a Woody Allen fan now.
Deconstructing Harry is laugh-out-loud funny, tracing the steps of Harry Block, a neurotic, foul-mouthed, Jewish, self-hating, pill-popping, womanizing alcoholic (three wives and six therapists later) that oddly enough, resembles Woody Allen and his own life (give or take a few things). Block has (giggle) writer's block, and can't write about his life. As a result, he becomes `unfocused,' entangling himself in fact and fiction (i.e. he interacts with his own characters). `You expect the world to adjust to the distortion you've become,' Harry's analyst tells him. What follows is a series of skits that interact with the past and present and the real and imagined it's kind of like watching a Kurt Vonnegut story edited by Quentin Tarentino.
The all-star cast is phenomenal: Robin Williams is hilarious, Kirstie Alley is hysterically funny, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is super-sexy and Elizabeth Shue is as sweet as sugar. Billy Crystal even pulls off a good role as the Devil. But other than the characterization, Woody's new flick is witty, cold-hearted, extremely vulgar, often tasteless and perfectly profane with enough catch-lines to keep film buffs cracking for years (`I always keep a little hooker money around'). Hannah And Her Sisters this ain't!