Deconstructing Harry (1997)

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.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judy Davis	...	Lucy
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Leslie
Stephanie Roth Haberle	...	Janet (as Stephanie Roth)
Dan Frazer	...	Janet's Dad
Joel Leffert	...	Norman
Lynn Cohen	...	Janet's Mom
Richard Benjamin	...	Ken
Joe Buck	...	Yankee Announcer (voice)
Jane Hoffman	...	Grandma
Woody Allen	...	Harry Block
Tobey Maguire	...	Harvey Stern
Annette Arnold	...	Rosalee
Frederick Rolf	...	Harvey's Doctor
Elisabeth Kieselstein-Cord	...	Rosalee's Sister
Lortensia Hayes	...	Jennifer

Storyline

Harry Block is a well-regarded novelist whose tendency to thinly-veil his own experiences in his work, as well as his un-apologetic attitude and his proclivity for pills and whores, has left him with three ex-wives that hate him. As he is about to be honored for his writing by the college that expelled him, he faces writer's block and the impending marriage of his latest flame to a writer friend. As scenes from his stories and novels pass and interact with him, Harry faces the people whose lives he has affected - wives, lovers, his son, his sister.

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Plot Keywords:

lucifer morningstar character | death character | whoremonger | man wears eyeglasses | writer's block | 

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Taglines:

Harry Block has written a best seller... bout his best friends... he revealed their deepest secrets... and they're not pleased... now Harry Block is going to Hell...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Fine Line Features

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew

Release Date:

2 January 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Meanest Man in the World

Filming Locations:

Tuxedo, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$356,476, 14 December 1997

Gross USA:

$10,686,841

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,686,841

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sweetland Films, Jean Doumanian Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR (Mono)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Demi Moore wore a wig in the film because she'd shaved her head for G.I. Jane (1997).

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Goofs

Harry invites Lucy to take off her coat a moment after she does so.

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Quotes

Harry Block: Look, I was merely explaining to you why my choice of necessity is confined to your practice.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: The Green Mile/The End of the Affair/A Map of the World/Sweet and Lowdown/Mr. Death (1999)

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Soundtracks

The Way You Look Tonight
(1936)
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Performed by Erroll Garner
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Deconstructing Woody Allen

Very funny, very coarse, very Woody Allen. This movie not only has autobiographical elements, Harry Block to a large extent is Woody Allen himself. I think never a director exposed the weaknesses of his own "ego" as mercilessly as Woody did in this film, descending into the deepest layers of the "id", into the very depths of hell (literally, with all the molten lava and sulfur smoke that go with it)! But Woody Allen covers this merciless exercise of psychoanalysis with a thick cover of humor. It is also a very funny movie!