''Deconstructing Harry'' is a 1997 American

black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...

written, directed by, and co-starring

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

, alongside

Caroline Aaron Caroline Sidney Aaron (née Abady; born ) is an American actress. She is known for her performances in films like Mike Nichols' ''Heartburn'' (1986) and ''Primary Colors'' (1998), as well as Woody Allen's '' Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989), ' ...

Kirstie Alley Kirstie Louise Alley (January 12, 1951 – December 5, 2022) was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 ...

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...

Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known film productions, including ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), based on the novella by Philip Roth; ''Catch-22'' (1970), fr ...

Eric Bogosian Eric Bogosian ( hy, Էրիկ Բոգոսյան; ; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and a ...

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...

Judy Davis Judith Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress in film, television, and on stage. With a career spanning over 40 years, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Frequen ...

and others. The film tells the story of a successful writer named Harry Block, played by Allen, who draws inspiration from people he knows in real life, and from events that happen to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result. The central plot features Block driving to a university from which he was once thrown out, in order to receive an honorary degree. Three passengers accompany him on the journey: a prostitute, a friend, and his son, whom he has kidnapped from his ex-wife. However, there are many flashbacks, segments taken from Block's writing, and interactions with his own fictional characters. ''Deconstructing Harry'' received moderately positive reviews from critics.

Plot

One night, Lucy gets a taxi to the home of author Harry Block. She has just read Harry's latest novel. In the novel, the character Leslie is having an affair with her sister's husband Ken. Lucy is angry because the novel is patently based on her and Harry's own affair; as a result, everyone knows about it. Lucy pulls a gun out of her purse, saying she will kill herself. She then turns the gun on Harry and begins firing. She chases him out onto the roof. Harry insists that he has already been punished: his latest girlfriend Fay has left him for his best friend Larry. To distract Lucy, Harry tells her a story he is currently writing: a semi-autobiographical story of a sex-obsessed young man named Harvey who is mistakenly claimed by Death. In therapy, Harry realizes he has not changed since he was a sex-obsessed youth. Harry discusses the honoring ceremony at his old university, taking place the next day; he is particularly unhappy that he has nobody with whom to share the occasion. After the session, Harry asks his ex-wife Joan if he can take their son Hilliard to the ceremony. She refuses, stating that Harry is a bad influence on Hilliard. She is also furious at Harry for the novel he wrote. In it, the character Epstein marries Helen, but the marriage begins to crumble after the birth of their son. Harry runs into an acquaintance, Richard, who is worried about his health. After accompanying Richard to the hospital, Harry asks him to come to the university ceremony. Richard appears uninterested. Harry then goes to meet his ex-girlfriend Fay, who reveals that she is now engaged. Harry begs Fay to get back together with him. He asks Fay to accompany him to his ceremony, but it clashes with Fay's wedding, scheduled the following day. That night, Harry sleeps with a prostitute, Cookie. Harry then asks Cookie to accompany him to his ceremony. In the morning, Richard unexpectedly arrives to join Harry and Cookie on the journey. On a whim, Harry decides to "kidnap" his son Hilliard. Along the way, they stop at a carnival, then at Harry's half-sister Doris's. Doris, a devoted

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

, is upset by Harry's portrayals of Judaism in his stories, as is her husband. During the journey, Harry also encounters his fictional creations Ken and Helen, who force him to confront some painful truths about his life. Just before arriving at the university, Richard dies peacefully in the car. While filming, Harry's fictional alter ego, Mel literally slides out of focus, becoming blurred. The university's staffers gush over Harry, asking what he plans to write next. He describes a story about a man (based on himself) who journeys down to Hell to reclaim his true love (based on Fay) from

the Devil Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood ...

(based on Larry). Harry and the Devil engage in a verbal duel as to who is truly the more evil of the two. Harry gets as far as arguing that he is a kidnapper before the story is interrupted by the arrival of the police. Harry is arrested for kidnapping Hilliard, for possessing a gun (it was Lucy's), and for having drugs in the car (belonging to Cookie). Larry and Fay come from their wedding to bail Harry out of jail. Harry reluctantly gives them his blessings. Back at his apartment, a miserable Harry fantasizes that the university's ceremony is taking place. The film ends with Harry getting over his writer's block by starting to write a book about a man who, like him, can only function in art, not in his life.

Cast

as Harry Block *

as Ken, Harry's Character *

as Joan, Harry's second wife *

as Larry, Harry's friend / The Devil *

as Lucy, Jane's sister *

as Richard *

Julie Kavner Julie Deborah Kavner (born September 7, 1950) is an American actress. Best known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', Kavner first attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younger ...

as Grace *

Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), '' Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), ''B ...

as Fay Sexton, Harry's last girlfriend *

Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the title character from Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), a role he later reprised in '' Spider-Man: No Way Hom ...

as Harvey Stern, Harry's character *

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compan ...

as Woman in the elevator, Harry's character *

Paul Giamatti Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti (; born June 6, 1967) is an American actor and film producer. He first garnered attention for his breakout role in '' Private Parts'' as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, leading to supporting roles in ''Saving Private R ...

as Prof. Abbott *

Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. Involved in acting from a young age, he made his film debut in John Huston's '' Prizzi's Honor'' (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in fil ...

as Paul Epstein, Harry's character *

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus ( ; born January 13, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and producer who worked on the comedy television series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1982–1985), ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), ''The New Adventures ...

as Leslie, Harry's character *

Mariel Hemingway Mariel Hadley Hemingway (born November 22, 1961) is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in ''Lipstick'' (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in ...

as Beth Kramer *

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

as Mel, Harry's Character *

Hazelle Goodman Hazelle Goodman (born Hazel Goodman; February 16, 1959) is an actress from Trinidad and Tobago. As a child she was inspired to become an actress after viewing ''The Sound of Music'', before her family moved to New York where she was raised in th ...

as Cookie Williams *

as Burt, Harry's brother-in-law *

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Br ...

as Helen, Harry's character *

as Doris Block, Harry's sister *

Eric Lloyd Eric Lloyd (born David Eric Lloyd Morelli; May 19, 1986) is an American actor, musician, and producer. Lloyd is best known for work as a child actor in such roles as Charlie Calvin in Disney's ''The Santa Clause'' film trilogy and the follow-u ...

as Hilliard Block, Harry's son * Amy Irving as Jane, Harry's third wife *

Viola Harris Viola Harris (July 5, 1920 – August 23, 2017) was an American actress known for roles in television, theater and film from the 1950s to the 2010s. Career Harris appeared in a number of films including Woody Allen's ''Deconstructing Harry'' ...

as Elsie * Victoria Hale as Woman in Shoestore *

Hy Anzell Hy Anzell (September 7, 1923 – August 23, 2003) was a Yiddish-speaking American actor. He originated the role of the flower shop owner, "Mr. Mushnik", in the original off-Broadway production of '' Little Shop of Horrors'' with Ellen Gre ...

as Max Pincus, Harry's character *

Shifra Lerer Shifra Lerer (August 30, 1915 – March 12, 2011) was an Argentine-born American Yiddish theater actress based in New York City. Lerer appeared opposite every major Yiddish theater actor during her career, which lasted 90 years. She was also ...

as Dolly Pincus, Harry's character

Casting

Woody Allen offered the role of Harry Block to Elliott Gould,

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...

and

Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein ; July 22, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's '' Broadcast News'' and was widely praised for his performance as a ...

, all of whom turned it down. Allen took the role himself.

Reception

''Deconstructing Harry'' garnered a 73% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from 37 reviews and a 61 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

Soundtrack

*Twisted (1952) - Music by

Wardell Gray Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who straddled the swing and bebop periods. Biography Early years Gray was born in Oklahoma City, the youngest of four children. He spent his early chil ...

- Performed by

Annie Ross Annabelle McCauley Allan Short (25 July 193021 July 2020), known professionally as Annie Ross, was a British-American singer and actress, best known as a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Early life Ross was born in Surr ...

*Out of Nowhere (1931) - Music by

Johnny Green John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his earli ...

- Lyrics by

Edward Heyman Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907October 16, 1981) was an American lyricist and producer, best known for his lyrics to " Body and Soul," "When I Fall in Love," and " For Sentimental Reasons." He also contributed to a number of songs for films. Biogr ...

- Performed by

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

*The Girl from Ipanema (1962) - Music by

Antonio Carlos Jobim Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...

- Lyrics by

Vinicius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed O Poetinha ("The little poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwright ...

- Performed by

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

*She's Funny That Way (1928) - Music by

Neil Moret Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. ...

- Lyrics by Richard A. Whiting - Performed by

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first rec ...

*Waiting (1993) - Written by Glenn Dickson - Performed by the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra *All the Things You Are (1939) - Music by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

- Lyrics by

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...

*Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain (1867) - Written by

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

- Performed by

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. History Er ...

*The Way You Look Tonight (1936) - Music by

- Lyrics by

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...

- Performed by Erroll Garner *Rosalie (1937) - Written by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

- Performed by The Savoy Hotel Orpheans *Miami Beach Rumba (1946) - Written by John A. Camacho, Irving Fields and Albert Gamse *Tzena Tzena Tzena (1950) - Written by

Mitchell Parish Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen. Biography Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 190 ...

, Issichar Miron and Julius Grossman *Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)(1936) - Written by

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...

- Performed by

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

*Christopher Columbus (1936) - Music by Leon Berry - Lyrics by

Andy Razaf Andy Razaf (born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo; December 16, 1895 – February 3, 1973) was an American poet, composer and lyricist of such well-known songs as " Ain't Misbehavin'" and " Honeysuckle Rose". Biography Razaf was born in Washi ...

- Performed by Benny Goodman *I Could Write a Book (1940) - Music by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

- Lyrics by

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...

- Performed by The Stebbins Hall Band *Dream a Little Dream of Me (1931) - Music by

Wilbur Schwandt Wilbur Clyde Schwandt (June 28, 1904 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin – July 23, 1998 in Miami, Florida) was an American musician best known for his song "Dream a Little Dream of Me" with Fabian Andre. He frequently used the stage name Don Swan and releas ...

and

Fabian Andre Fabian Andre (January 8, 1910 – March 30, 1960) was an American composer, best known for co-writing the music of " Dream a Little Dream of Me" with Wilbur Schwandt in 1931. Popular in its time, the song was revived in 1968 when covered by the M ...

- Lyrics by

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including "Pretty Baby", "Ain't We Got Fun?", "Carolina in the Morning", "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo' By ...

Awards and nominations

was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. The film was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical.

Influences

The film is a general reworking of his earlier 1980 film ''

Stardust Memories ''Stardust Memories'' is a 1980 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper and Marie-Christine Barrault. Sharon Stone has a brief role, in her film debut. The film is abo ...

'', which also had an artist go to a ceremony in his honor, while reminiscing over past relationships and trying to fix and stabilize current ones. Allen is an admirer of several renowned European directors, and his films in particular often draw upon the works of

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...

and

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

. The rough outline of the plot of ''Deconstructing Harry'', that of an academic on a long drive to receive an honorary award from his old university while reflecting upon his life's experiences, essentially mirrors that of Bergman's '' Wild Strawberries''. Also, the film is similar to Fellini's ''

8½ ' (Italian title: , ) is a 1963 surrealist comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano and Brunello Rondi) by Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The metafictional narrative centers on Guido Anselmi, played by M ...

'', in that it is about an artist struggling with his current relationships and remembering his old ones, interspersed with dream sequences, as well as his work being based on events from his life. It is acknowledged by some critics that Allen based the name of Harry Block on Antonius Block (

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

), the protagonist from Bergman's ''

The Seventh Seal ''The Seventh Seal'' ( sv, Det sjunde inseglet) is a 1957 Swedish historical fantasy film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Set in Sweden during the Black Death, it tells of the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) and a game of ch ...

''. Some critics, including

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, have suggested that the character of Harry Block is based on real-life author

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

and not on Allen himself.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1990s sex comedy films Films with atheism-related themes American satirical films American sex comedy films American black comedy films Films about death Films about Jews and Judaism Films about prostitution in the United States Films about writers Films directed by Woody Allen Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Films distributed by Disney Hollywood Pictures films American nonlinear narrative films 1990s comedy road movies American comedy road movies Films with screenplays by Woody Allen Films about adultery in the United States Films produced by Letty Aronson Films produced by Jean Doumanian 1997 comedy films 1997 films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films