Husbands and Wives
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Movie Reviews of Husbands and Wives
Movie Review: Relationships simmering in contention...
Summary: 4 Stars
Lacerating in it's unraveling on two marriages, `Husbands and Wives' is a delicate yet abruptly harsh depiction of what can (and often does) happen in a relationship. The dialog is sharp, the sequences are well timed and executed, the humor is dark and often misguiding (which is key to this type of film) and the acting is, in a word, superb.
The film dissects the relationships between two couples. Sally and Jack have reached a mutual end to their relationship and have decided to split up, temporarily, in order to see how single life suits them. This comes as a severe blow to their friends Gabe and Judy, especially to Judy. As the film progresses the after effects of the separation weigh heavy on both Sally and Jack as they endeavor to start over with new lovers. In the meantime, Judy and Gabe begin to unravel as Gabe forms affections for a student of his and Judy begins to fantasize over Sally's new boyfriend, Michael.
If there is one complaint I have here, it is that Woody Allen seems to put the bulk of the relationship `blame' on the women instead of weaving an even and equal distribution of quilt. Sally is cold and critical. Judy is manipulative and needy. While their husbands obviously have their faults (both men chase after the affections of a younger woman) it is apparent that they are driven their by the repulsively controlling habits of their wives. Having been married for a number of years and been through a separation where both parties initially blamed the other for everything, it is only through the realization that there are faults on all sides of the marriage that we were able to come together as a united front against our own failures, thus saving our marriage and working towards a better relationship. Sadly, in my opinion, Allen fails to really paint the faults of his two male leads; or, if they have faults, they are heavily masked by the overly obvious faults of the two female characters.
Or maybe I'm too blinded by my own personal experience and thus have missed the point entirely.
All that said, I still consider this film to be a great film, and one I highly recommend. I just don't think that it succeeded in being as universally informative as it could have been. The film comes off a tad one sided in my opinion.
The acting is ferocious though, and really deserves to be singled out. All four main actors are stunning here. I often note that Woody Allen tends to play the same character in all of his films, but I love when he can add layers of color to his single persona. This is one of those times where he is distinctly layered (as he is in `Sleeper', `Annie Hall' and `Hannah and Her Sisters'). While he has similarities to his other `characters', he is truly IN this character. Mia Farrow is simply stunning here as well, developing a woman at the edge of her desires, living vicariously through a friend she simultaneously admires as well as despises, all for the same reasons.
She wants to be her.
But, this film belongs to Judy Davis and Sydney Pollack. Pollack is sheer genius as Jack. He understands how to creep into the subtle actions to create a man who just wants to be happy but doesn't understand how to be. As great as he is, Davis is better. To be honest, I'm glad that Tomei won an Oscar, but it should have been for one of her stunning performances this past decade. Davis is all sorts of seething perfection here that her Oscar loss may be one of the worst in the history of Oscar. The way she manipulates her characters anger is phenomenal. That explosion of telephone accusations is stunning, and the way she nonchalantly scrutinizes everything and everyone around her is so spot-on you swear she's not acting at all.
In the end I really like this movie. I don't think it quite accomplishes what it so desperately wants to, but I think that it is an important and provocative piece of filmmaking that is bound to start good debate. The acting is exquisite and the films overall tone is engaging. Woody is a master storyteller, and he works lots of magic on this one.
Movie Review: Is Such Thing as Perfect Relationship Possible? How to Find and to Keep It?
Summary: 4 Stars
Woody Allen makes good, very good, and excellent films.
Husbands and Wives is a very good film with excellent performances. It is not a comedy but rather a dramedy that explores marriages and relationships of four main characters. It has several funny moments and dialogs (it is Allen after all) but it has disturbing and sad scenes, too.
When Jack and Sally (Sidney Pollack and Judy Davis) announce that they're separating, this comes as a shock to their best friends Gabe and Judy (Allen and Farrow). They start to reevaluate their own marriage only to find out that it is not as perfect as they thought. Very soon Jack and Sally, and then Gabe and Judy start to meet new people - young, bright, and attractive. They all hope that new is better, and for some of them it is true while the others come to understanding that true love involves loving another's imperfections even when very well aware of them.
This film is for all husbands and wives, lovers, and partners around the world. It is for couples who've been in a relationship for a month, a year, or decades. It is for singles who are ready or who think they want to enter a relationship. It is also for people who don't. All of us have been or may find ourselves in a situation or relationship or having a conversation like the ones in the Allen's film. All of us think and talk about love, trust, understanding, fidelity, sex, and yes - marriage.
The best scenes of the film belong to Allen and Farrow. Some of their conversations in the movie probably reflect the situation in their own relationship that ended soon after the film was made. It is the last film Allen made with Farrow.
Judy Davis played the role of her carrier practically stealing the film. I was shocked to find out that she received all possible Critics Awards that year and lost Best Supporting Oscar to Marisa Tomei. I love Tomei's performance in My Cousin Vinny (1992) but nomination itself would've been enough. Davis was the Best Supporting actress (I saw all films with nominated performances). Sidney Pollack (The Oscar winning director of Out of Africa and two times nominee for Tootsie and They Shoot Horses, Don't They?) and Liam Nisson were wonderful. I did not like Juliet Lewis at all. What she did adorably in Cape Fear with De Niro for ten minutes scene, she tried to stretch for over an hour here - did not work, IMO.
I like "Husbands and Wives" - it was interesting to watch, and it left me thinking if such thing as perfect relationship is ever possible, and what it would take to not only find it but to keep it.
4.5/5
Movie Review: Husbands & Wives
Summary: 4 Stars
Woody Allen's 1992 film "Husbands and Wives" was released around the time we first heard the words Soon-Yi, which is ironic considering the subject matter of the film. "Husbands and Wives" is billed as a comedy, but is more of a drama. There are a few jokes, but there's nothing incredibly funny in the film. The movie is told like a documentary, featuring interviews with the characters and handheld cinematography. Allen and Mia Farrow play Gabe and Judy Roth, a couple who have been married for ten years and think everything is well. Then their two friends Jack and Sally (Sydney Pollack & Judy Davis) announce they are getting divorced, which causes Gabe and Judy to question the validity of their own marriage. As Jack and Sally move on (with Jack getting a much hotter younger woman and Sally lusting after Michael, played by Liam Neeson), Gabe and Judy begin to move farther apart. Gabe, a college professor, finds himself falling for a 20-year-old student named Rain (Juliette Lewis) and Judy finds herself, also, lusting after Michael. The movie is 106 minutes, but a lot of stuff happens in the film. This is not one of Woody Allen's best; it's not in the top 5 anyway. It's overwrought and is not his most entertaining. The performances are very good, especially Farrow, Pollack, and Davis. Juliette Lewis, meanwhile, has echoes of Mariel Hemingway in "Manhattan" in her performance. The cinematography and mock-documentary style of the film gets old after a while, with the former getting headache-inducing after a while. "Husbands and Wives" is a good study of marriage and infidelity. One critic (I don't recall which one it was) said that "Husbands and Wives" seemed like Allen trying to come to grips with the Soon-Yi debacle, but the ending here is quite different. "Husbands and Wives" has its merits, it's demerits...But it's a worthy Woody Allen film that's definitely worth watching.
GRADE: B-
Movie Review: Deserves a slightly better reissue
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my favorite of all of the films that Allen directed in the '90s, so my expectations for this disc were a bit high, and not quite satisfied.
Both widescreen (1.85:1) and fullscreen (1.33:1) versions of the film are available, and can be selected on the disc's opening screen. The sound mix is fine, but this was taken from a very grainy print. "Husbands and Wives" isn't a beautiful film and much of its photography is dark and/or softly lit, but I find it hard to believe that a clearer print of this wasn't available for transfer.
The dubbed French dialogue track isn't as good as it could be, either. It's well voiced, but as out of sync as a '70s B-movie dub. These faults are compensated by excellent subtitles in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
A pair of entertaining theatrical trailers for both "Husbands and Wives" and "Manhattan Murder Mystery" are included.
While this isn't as good as I'd hoped it would be, it'll do for now. I'd really like to see Sony release another DVD edition of this movie with a transfer from a cleaner print, but given the limited commercial appeal of this title, I don't know that they've the impetus to do so.
Movie Review: Relationships and What Happens to Them...
Summary: 4 Stars
It was ironic (or perhaps not) that Woody Allen and Mia Farrow were in the midst of a terrible breakup when this film came out. I only saw it recently, and it's one of those films that technically would never fly, unless Allen was behind it.
I enjoyed the partial-documentary sequences where the characters discuss their marriages, breakups, etc., and dark comedy that surrounds it all.
Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis are that old married couple you think would stay together forever, but they're breaking up. Woody finds himself strangely drawn to one of his writing students (Juliette Lewis makes the film!), who seems to get every man she meets on a string without even trying, Mia hooks up with Liam Neeson...there's a certain shallowness protrayed when it comes to people, and that really hit me.
Perhaps as I was going through my own marriage breakup at the time I saw this awhile back, it struck chords with me I didn't think it would. In any case, this is not a madcap Woody film. It's a sometimes harsh examination of how people deal with each other, and don't always realize what they've got.
You need to be in the right mood for this one, but it's worth the time.