lasttimeisaw
Released in the hype of Allen and Farrow's breakup in the wake of his infamous Soon-Yi scandal, HUSBANDS AND WIVES archly and topically plumbs into the marital conundrums of two couples, Gabe (Allen) and Judy (Farrow, bookends her collaboration with Allen to the tune of 13), and their best friends Jack (Pollack) and Sally (Davis). For one thing, the film adopts a jittery cinematographic style (aided by hand-held cameras and Steadi-cams) which certainly is not Allen's modus operandi, and lets rip the neurotic, taxing, unrelieved relationship squabbles to full throttle, inflamed by Jack and Sally's abrupt declaration of their separation after being married for over 15 years. Two different reactions ensure, Gabe retains his sangfroid facing a bolt from the blue but Judy apparently loses it, thinking that her closest friend has been keeping her marriage snags to herself, that seems to be a big blow to their time- honoured friendship, but on a more intuitive level (as later Sally astutely dissects), there is something deeply self-serving in Judy's reaction. Gabe and Judy are jolted to scrutinize their own 10-year-young matrimony, where crevices start to crack open, here, Allen deploys another gimmick, a faux-documentary with character revealing their inner feelings in the form of an interview, Gabe confesses he is a sucker for "kamikaze women" (with trying smugness) until he meets Judy, whom he deciphers is a mastermind of passive-aggressive manipulation, aka. she always gets what she wants in the end. That is what happens, Allen, a professor in literary, becomes increasingly attracted by one of his student Rain (Lewis) while being self-aware of the clichéd professor-student entanglement. Meanwhile, Judy, lends a helping hand by introducing her newly single colleague Michael (Neeson, a disarmingly pleasurable presence) to Sally, who is fumed when she finds out Jack has moved in with his new lover Sam (Anthony), a young aerobics trainer, merely three weeks after their separation. But, what complicates the situation is, subconsciously, Judy carries a torch for the gentlemanlike Michael, so in the end of the day, a paradigm shift is bound to shatter the status quo. Allen's script, as rapier-like as always in laying bare the intricate verities of gender politics and monogamous dilemma, eventually, plumps for a morally ego-boosting windup for Gabe (Allen's alter-ego) who has savored the tempting kiss from a young hottie he craves for, and then rebuffs her advance with all the dignity in the world to remain morally uncorrupted (which blows up in audience's face when juxtaposed with its sardonic divergence from reality), whereas for Judy, her seemingly happy ending betrays Gabe's own complacent shrewdness of knowing her too well, for my money, that's where this otherwise rather piquant and honest-to-goodness modern marriage assessment leaves an unsavory aftertaste, which actually has been lurking behind a majority of Allen's oeuvre. But what makes HUSBANDS AND WIVIES head and shoulders over his lesser works is the cynosure of the cast, namely, the divine Judy Davis, an ever-so entrancing showstopper, revels in emitting of Sally's often self-contradictory but ultimately revealing emotional states with sheer intensity, veracity without forfeiting the salutary outpourings of humor and wits (her post-coital "hedgehogs and foxes" rumination is a gas!), Marisa Tomei, as excellent as she is in MY COUSY VINNY (1992), should hand over her Oscar to Mr. Davis, a blatant robbery in the Academy history. Whilst no one can steal the limelight from her, one must admit Sydney Pollack is quite a trouper in the other side of the camera as well, his outstanding two-hander with a feisty Lysette Anthony alone can effortlessly bust a gut, which only leaves, the story-line concerns Gabe and Judy pales in comparison with its pseudo-cerebral self-deception and self-doubt, no wonder Jack and Sally would not open up to them, they are much messier.
leonblackwood
Review: This is yet another movie about troubled relationships by Woody Allen, with a New York backdrop. It's about 2 couples who are questioning there marriages and wonder if they could find happiness with another partner. Personally, got bored after a while and it seemed like the movie wasn't going anywhere. Although the movie is classed as a light comedy, I found it to be more of a emotional drama with Woody Allen babbling all the way through. I find it amazing that one director can make so many movies about the same subject without changing them in the slightest. Anyway, it's a watchable movie which has some average performances by the actors, but it's my nothing amazing. Average!Round-Up: After watching Liam Neeson kicking butt in his movies lately, it's weird seeing him in a dramatic comedy, looking so young. He obviously wasn't comfortable with this genre, although he was good in Love Actually, but since then he just seems to stick to voice overs and action movies. As for Woody Allen he just seems to act the same in all of his romantic comedies so his performance wasn't that surprising. On the plus side, I do rate him for acting and writing most of his projects because it must be hard to direct yourself. I think my problem is that I'm watching these Woody Allen movies back to back because they all seem really similar.Budget: $20million Domestic Gross: $11millionI recommend this movie to people who are into there Woody Allen movies which are mostly about troubled relationships and affairs. 4/10
jackasstrange
I am a big fan of Woody Allen works, no surprise here. I even find some of his weakest efforts to be above average films. Husband and Wives is far from being one of his weakest efforts though, pretty like the opposite actually. It depiction of the people relationships is spot on here. Worth Noting that he clearly had a tendency to write about 'old man relationship with young girl' and relationships breaking up. Sounds like interesting subjects, being said I'm not a old man nor a young girl, but the dialogs and the characters make it feel so interesting, and above all, real, that's hard to not be interested at all. The separation thing is so true, and so surreal at same time…that is probably why it's so interesting. The metaphor is what is worthy, after all, so thumbs up.But anyway, Woody shows here a history about two couples: one of them going through a difficult time of separation, and the other pretending that are well, but very instable and weak, even weaker than the marriage of their friendly couple. And of course, there is always a lot of discussions (typical of Allen's films), comic reliefs, and there is also an apparently 'psychologist' talking to each character, inter called with their actions. What I like the most in Allen's films is the character development. Is so beautifully made, and so simple at the same time. He in fact has a unique way to do it. In my opinion, he is better than his biggest idol on cinema, Ingmar Bergman, which also was excellent. The editing also makes it looks like a found footage film, and the cinematography may be comparable to an actual sitcom, like The Office, for example(being said Husband and Wives was released ten years before the aforementioned TV-show), full of zoom-ins and shaky camera, looking like an amateurish thing. Interesting choice. And no, it not abuses at all of that so 'controversial' techniques.There are a few recognizable faces in the film, Woody Allen himself, Mia Farrow, Juliette Lewis, Liam Neeson…they all gave average to good performances, what is usual in Allen films(for some reason). If you are a Allen fan, you cannot skip that film. 8.5/10
