Wonderful character development!

Very well executed

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is probably one of Allen's most personal and honest films as it seems to touch on his private life and expose it for the painful and raw persona it can be to many people. Here he portrays a writer who is not any,person's idea of a role model but rather a selfish, drug and whore abusing self centered writer who has the balls to admit that this exactly who and what he is.The narrative is propelled through the family friends he is forced to interact with on a specific day that goes every way wrong can go involving his ex and bitter wife who he used as a thinly veiled plot device in his recent novel, his son who brings along with a hooker to a school awards ceremony.The film meanders between the classic get a laugh Allen and the ponder existence Allen both notable and always worth a watch.

If you think you don't like Woody Allen films, then give this a try.It's definitely my favourite Allen - and I've seen most of 'em.A warning for the faint-hearted: It's got more swearing than all of Allen's films put together (I'm pretty sure that must be statistically true).It also starts with a crude scene of two characters bonking (*Do people still say 'bonking'?*) in front of the blind grandmother who has no idea what's going on.Vulgar with an amazing script.It's bitter, nasty, sarcastic and hilarious, and makes me laugh out loud at a different point every time I re-watch it.Highly recommended.

"Deconstructing Harry" stands, in my opinion, as one of Woody Allen's best, probably his last masterpiece although it doesn't have the 'masterpiece' vibe. It looks like a typical Woody Allen movie but watch it closely and you'll get more insights about the director, the artist, ultimately the man. If you're not interested in, enjoy the gags and forget about it … if you can.I am more and more confident that Woody Allen is never as inspired and –of course- hilarious as when his movies work as media to expresses his personal fears, angst and frustrations. And being capable to distort life, facts and reality to produce insights based on his own living, and in the intellectual and emotional process, to enable us to question ourselves, is in my opinion the work of a true artist. The film might feel 'minor' compared to other Allen's films but for some reason, it touched me, not immediately, but the ending was one of Allen's most triumphal achievements. Don't let yourself guided by your first feelings, this is not Allen wrapped up in his own ego, the film works on higher levels, and use Allen's own demons to tunnel us into ours, to use our empathy as a lightning torch to find truth in our personal darkness.Woody Allen is the titular Harry, Block is his last name, a fitting one as the writer he plays seems to suffer from mental block, the nightmare of every writer. But this block is justified by the series of incidents that undermined his inspiration. "Deconstructing Harry" is set during the aftermath of Harry's best-seller's success, a novel where he unveiled his most intimate secrets involving his friends, ex-wives, sister, family and acquaintances. It is one thing to reveal one's intimate secrets but we tend to forget that our secrets involve our personal circle. As a writer, Harry doesn't embarrass with such dilemmas, inspiration commands the writing and the others' anger is only a collateral damage he can afford but still must deal with. He tries to hide the names, to use lamentable pseudonyms, but behind every character, there's Harry. The film, like "Radio Days" is a succession of little vignettes, all reflecting a part of Harry's life, this is what the whole deconstruction process is about, in a masterstroke of writing.Whether it's a writer whose wife rediscovered her Jewish faith after the birth of her son, an old man indulging himself to cannibalism, a man cheating on his wife in front of an old blind parent, it's all about Harry, his friends are not fooled, neither are we. Is there a message behind that? Yes, every single piece of work of an artist is autobiographical. I'm tired of the whole: "Woody Allen always plays the same character" argument, because rather than a criticism, this is the best homage he can receive. But I would specify it a little bit, he doesn't play the same character, but within his whole oeuvre, there is one and only one Woody Allen. To understand the personality, one has to follow his evolution step by step, film by film. In "Interiors", the artist put his own inspiration into perspective, in "Stardust Memories", his comical talent or in "Zelig", his capability to please to be part of the mood..In "Deconstructing Harry", it seems like the constantly self-deprecating Woody Allen is finally over with his own demons, because he comes to one realization, this is the best thing he can do, this is the only talent he truly has, and he's only exploiting it for the best. One of his friends, played by Billy Crystal, stole his girlfriend, but he acknowledges he doesn't have his talent. And yes, Allen is the best screenwriter. At the film's apotheosis, when all the characters he created applauded him, you can see the overwhelming effect on his eyes, and for one second, we imagine Woody Allen being applauded by Annie Hall, Virgil, Hannah and her Sisters thanking him for having graced the silver screen and pleased a generation of movie goers, for more than 20 years. Almost 20 years later, Woody Allen is still prolific but you could feel a relief after "Deconstructing Harry", when he could finally get to more fictional stuff, and telling stories again.I didn't speak much of the film because it's typically Allenian with a great cast, a deliberately disjointed editing, sometimes confusing but I guess it's a benign artistic license in order to convey the chaotic aspect of Harry's life as a sort of story he tries to rewrite inside himself, with the same process of writing, erasing, rewriting, copy-pasting etc. But what rises above the whole chaos, is the self-reflexive approach of Allen to his own work, he did it with "Interiors" and "Stardust Memories", but the films were inspired by Bergman and Fellini's works. I guess it took the revival of his comical genius in the 80's and the early 90's so he could understand that the best one to talk about Woody and to deconstruct Woody, is still Woody.And from someone who wishes to become a writer and can't function in the cold and average normality of life, I realize that I'm more inclined to bloom during writing, and stop being so out-of-focus, I should be the one to give people the right glasses to see what I'm worth. This out-of-focus metaphor is a strike of comical genius, and it touched a very sensitive chord. I loved "Deconstructing Harry" in a very deep and personal level and as I get older, I feel a very strong connection to the artistic and even neurotic personality of Woody Allen.To deconstruct Harry is to understand Woody, and ... a certain part of ourselves, imprisoned in a life of futile conventions and begging for expression, no matter how hard, and painful or shameful they are. I guess we should all learn to deconstruct ourselves to be over with our inner demons.

I recently re-watched this on DVD and was surprised to find I liked it much more than on seeing it in the theater on it's initial release. (Something that's happened to me with a number of more recent Woody Allen films).I recalled it as misogynistic and self serving. While it still has moments of those qualities, it feels like Allen is toughest of all on himself. But is he tough enough? This is certainly the worst, most abrasive and selfish Allen has ever let himself look on screen, but there was still a feeling of pulling his self-aimed punches just a bit. Sort of an "All That Jazz" lite. The film has a good number of very funny lines, and creative ideas (Robin Williams as an out- of-focus actor is a brilliant concept), and its fun to see a filmmaker Allen's age pushing his style limits, with jump cuts and multi-layered construction. Still, it starts to repeat its own ideas after a while, both literally and thematically, and the ending feels a bit wimpy. While far from Allen's best, its still a dense, funny, thoughtful film, something increasingly rare in American cinema.