Best movie of this year hands down!

Powerful

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Woody Allen went the documentary (ish) route, again, with his 1992 film Husbands and WIves. The film follows a married couple's deterioration after their married friends decide to separate. By telling the story in documentary format with a hand-held camera with a lot of movement and close-up shots, the audience is completely immersed in the story, almost like voyeurs as we see a marriage crumble apart. Jack (Sydney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis) break some tough news to their friends Gabe (Woody Allen) and Judy (Mia Farrow) that they will be separating. Judy and Sally are quite nonchalant while delivering the news but Gabe and Judy are devastated. Gabe remarks that theirs is a marriage benchmark as he only thinks of them as "Jack and Sally". Judy is completely devastated even retiring to her bedroom in a dither over hearing the news. Gabe and Judy console themselves and each other as Jack and Sally go on to see other people. The news changes them, as well, however. Gabe and Judy both begin to question aspects of their life and relationship and start to believe that they may not be as happy in their marriage as they've grown comfortable believing. Gabe starts succumbing to the admiration of one of his female students and Judy realizes she is attracted to another man. What began as a series of changes in the lives of Jack and Sally has delivered life- changing impact for Gabe and Judy.I love the documentary style Woody used for husbands and Wives. I've heard many criticize it, yet, I think it's perfect to convey the intimate emotions dealt with in the film. I especially enjoy how real Woody depicts human emotions in this film. Who hasn't recovered from a breakup when one moment you are whole, moving on, and living your life when all of a sudden you get a nagging thought in your head that you just can't shake and you become a mix of anger and desperation in an instant? That's exactly what Woody showed in the scene in which Sally was in the apartment of a man she was to go on a date with but she couldn't shake the news that Jack had moved someone in his home just three weeks after their separation. That scene, as gut-wrenching as it was, was my favorite because it was so real. That really is how emotions work, they are wild and unpredictable, quickly changing based on new information. Husbands and Wives was a truly human film with rich touches of Woody Allen (another Bergman reference and a comment from Woody about walking in Paris in the rain) definitely a stand out in the excellent filmography of Woody Allen.

Gabe (Woody Allen) and Judy (Mia Farrow) have invited their good friends Jack (Sydney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis) for a small dinner at their quaint Manhattan apartment. Their abode is full of books and knickknacks all pointing to a comfortable urbanite life in the largest city in the world. Then Jack and Sally reveal some surprising news…after years of seemingly happy marriage, the two have agreed to a separation and eventual divorce. After that bomb is dropped the two couples reexamine their relationships with each other, trying to find meaning in romances both current and past while discovering the good, the bad and the ugly in marriage.Woody Allen is mostly known for his comedies. But while Husbands and Wives has some pretty spot on observational humor, the story is largely somber and dramatic. Not dramatic in the sense of a Wednesday afternoon soap opera but a benign drama that with a few spikes of activity focuses mostly on the characters. There is no clever high concept or narrative liberties here like say, The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985); the film is more straight-laced and character driven along the lines of Interiors (1978) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).And what of the characters or rather the actors who flesh them out? Judy Davis, Mia Farrow and Juliette Lewis are the obvious standouts, representing three very different women all of which are looking for the same thing; someone to love and someone to love them back. Davis received an Oscar nomination for her role as a bitter divorcée trying to come to terms with her ex-husband's infidelity and being single again. She's continually frustrated and confused by the yearnings of the heart occasionally even lashing out on her boyfriend Gates (Liam Neeson). She's cynical and wary of attachment yet deep down she knows that her entanglements with Jack aren't over.Mia Farrow is a stark counterpoint to Diane Keaton's brassy personalities of Allen's earlier work. Farrow's intensity lies always below the surface, providing the perked looks and mousiness of a young ingénue with the mind and body language of a veteran in the trials of love. It's a shame that out of the twelve Woody Allen films she has been in (for which Husbands and Wives was most famously her last) she had never received recognition by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her stellar work.Juliette Lewis who plays one of Gabe's young students from his Literature course, has the appearance and vulnerability of a dewy-eyed devotee. Yet when the amiable Gabe discovers he might be the object of desire here and Lewis's Rain the controller, he recoils. There's a scene where the two are in a cab discussing the latest draft of his book. Unable to take criticism, Gabe calls Rain a 20-year-old twit and says "I'd hate to be your boyfriend, he must go through hell." Rain cavalierly responds "Well, I'm worth it."Those who bemoan Allen's post-Annie Hall (1977) work won't find relief from his more meditative works of the 1980's. While most of the characters are likable they sometimes do unlikeable things, each on their own journey of discovery. I suppose we all do things we regret for love and those with a mature outlook on the subject matter will find a lot to enjoy and a lot to flinch at in Husbands and Wives. I suppose the heart wants what the heart wants.http://www.theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com

I only began to appreciate the greatness of this film upon my second viewing. Only then did I really take it all in and appreciate just how unflinching, superbly intricate and accurate this portrayal of relationships truly is. It really is a testament to the life experience of Woody Allen to be able to write something so deeply observed and then be able to direct this vision so it plays out with such normality.It explores all the love and heartbreak elements of relationships I can bring to mind. The individual interviews are an extremely effective way of vividly revealing the thoughts that we all have about these human relationships. They capture so many thoughts around monogamy, insecurity, honesty, anger, capriciousness, philosophy, social etiquette/acceptance, courage, fantasy.. I could go on. It flips the whole wishy-washy notion of 'love' on it's head to instead really examine the practical nitty gritty of everyday life as a couple. It's also interesting to see just how these interplay affects these people of different ages.It's one of those rare films you can watch several times. I've seen many Woody Allen films and this is definitely in the top 3 for me.

There was a time when I didn't quite get the humour of Woody Allen. It was mildly funny but I didn't get the wit in the rapid fire dialogue that rolled out like natural conversation. It seems natural because the script is so well crafted. With so many people being like the rather serious and shallow characters in these movies, we might not have the subtle sense to hear the biting satire. Now I find the humour hilarious and the scripts brilliant. This film is no exception.In Husbands and Wives, Woody Allen, Judy Davis and Liam Neeson were all excellent as youngish married people coming to terms with the reality of marriage and looking for something better, as if marriage has to always be a great fit. Sydney Pollock was very droll in his own exasperated way. In one scene, Davis and Pollock demonstrate a first rate cat-fight that is the comedic high point of this movie.This is a movie where Allen's humour shines with a cast of actors in roles of well educated, middle class New Yorkers who describe their marriage problems (usually in terms of the other spouse needing to change). The conversations are presented as if they were part of a documentary; it works well. The movie lacks the characters of other Woody Allen movies like Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Annie Hall. Nevertheless it is telling in its portrayal of late 20th century marriage. In the end, we see one of the couples confiding about their own limited success in marriage and the way they have adapted. All in all, the movie is an entertaining look at marriage in a particular setting and how it succeeds, fails or just keeps on going.