Husbands and Wives (1992)

just watch it!

Charming and brutal

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Husband and Wives attempts to navigate the tricky territory surrounding two married couples in their middle ages, one of which has suddenly announced their separation. Farrow's Judy takes the Allen role here; she is almost offended at this sudden change in their within their comfort, projecting hard and yet unable to accept that this is an outcome that she wants for herself. Allen's camera departs from its usual fare, the serenity in the stillness, the roving, unbroken long takes that let the performances and script shine. It whips backs and forth with the jerkiness and blurred vision of an intruder of this intimate moment, as unbelieving as Judy herself, shocked by the revelation. The dialogue does not pause for a witty insight - it is overlapping, interrupting, reflecting the fragmentation of their relationships to come (and which has perhaps already begun long ago). Judy Davis is a marvel. She is the hit hard the most of the following events, despite how Farrow might act, because she is the one left initially alone, and her ex-husband has found a prettier and younger thing. And in just three weeks, no less; upon discovering this she whips up a fury that seems to charge the frames to rumble themselves. Davis is restless, trembling, a bundle of nervous energy openly and without inhibition. By contrast Jack seems to be having the time of his life, snuggling, teasing, kissing his new shiny partner, flaunting his rediscovery. Gabe predictably treats this as an intellectual sin: "You're IQ's gone into remission," he remarks. It is not like him. The interactions in Husbands and Wives are wonderful because they are full to the brim of bitter, distrusting adults that have grown weary of keeping up appearances over a lifetime. The navigation of the business of love and romance and dating in these middles ages is a contemptuous battleground, full of baggage, frustration and insecurity. Judy asks her husband is she wants someone new, and underlines the question strongly with connotations of her own desires, but would sooner explode at his wrong answer first. He answers correctly, and flips the question back to her, and the atmosphere is stagnant with their dual dissatisfaction. Davis can barely contain her misery even after a wonderful night, her voiced enjoyment undercut by a biting scorn at Mahler's sentimentalism or watery Alfredo sauce. The faux-documentary style is appropriate when we are witnessing characters and relationships exploding and releasing a storm of emotions, and yet at times it takes away from the moment. Aside from the hand-held there are also snippets of talking heads, snap zooms and injections of the snappy narrator's comments, but they feel like stealing ripe opportunities right from under our noses, moments of truth and vulnerability in-between the play-acting. Case in point: Judy has all but set up her dream date for Michael and Sally, and is swooning at his descriptions of the night out. The dramatic irony of the sudden rainstorm during their lunch is the universe openly mocking her chances. And yet the culmination of all this is Farrow merely voicing her envy to the camera. Why not follow her shuffling away to the other room, sitting down and breathing hard, letting the take linger until it becomes uncomfortable? Let Farrow act, let her display that tremendous and natural vulnerability within her.The editing is vicious, even more so than when it exposed Alvy Singer's hypocrisy in Annie Hall. It cuts deep down into the married couples instabilities, juxtaposing the fiery highs and the nostalgic lows into a flurry of realisation. He departs to follow a similar path as Jack, chasing after the metaphorical lost youth. Because it is a purely physical affair, he ignores the warning signs, the fictitious nature of her stormy and tempestuous personality. But surprisingly there is a reversal. She comes to fetishise his maturity and intellectualism, which is a dream come true for the Allen type, but he falters. There are thunderstorms, birthday wishes and candles, all set up for him, but he does not characteristically pounce. This is not a clumsy autobiographical element as many have proposed. Rain criticises (and rightfully, if you are familiar with the Allen type) the less savoury aspects of his novel, and initiates the moment. But he admits that "I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to get hurt.", and realises that it will not last. A romantic illusion, but a comfortable one for some.

Gabe (Woody Allen) and Judy Roth (Mia Farrow) are shocked when their couple friends Jack (Sydney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis) announce that they're splitting up. Jack has a young girlfriend Sam (Lysette Anthony). Judy convinces Sally to go out with her colleague Michael Gates (Liam Neeson). Judy is actually attracted to him. Jack gets jealous of Michael and breaks up with Sam. Meanwhile Gabe develops a close relationship with one of his students Rain (Juliette Lewis). She's a free spirit and they are on the edge of something inappropriate.Woody Allen is doing this in shaky documentary style including an unseen filmmaker interviewing the characters. It adds something compelling to these stories. The characters jump out of the screen. It's a fascinating look at relationships and secret desires. Nothing is ever as good as these people want or pine for.

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 have to review this title and I don't do that very often. I've just finished watching this film for the first time and as a Woody fan I can say that this one is probably the best I've seen so far.I like how the camera is so "easy", the whole film seems like a home video which makes it even more realistic and the characters discussing their feelings with the audience really gets you involved.At time it seems too ironic, but I like it like that. It has some great "the meaning of life" moments and those arguing scenes make it so funny.Watch this film, you might even learn something from it.