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Harry dans tout ses états
Harry außer sich
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 96 minutes

Film Synopsis

Harry Block (Woody Allen) is a writer whose novels are no more than thinly disguised renditions of his personal life. Those who knew him most intimately appear as unauthorized characters in his's books, and they are all offended by their revealing characterizations. Upset characters include Harry's ex-wife/ex-therapist Joan (Kirstie Alley), and Joan's sister, Lucy (Judy Davis), whom we see was having an affair with Harry at the same time. The situation isn't helped any by the fact that Woody's entire life has been libidinously centered and completely unfaithful.

Harry gets invited to receive an honorary award from the school that once expelled him. He trys to find someone to accompany him, but that proves very difficult.

Main Cast

• Caroline Aaron .... Doris
• Woody Allen .... Harry Block
• Kirstie Alley .... Joan
• Bob Balaban .... Richard
• Richard Benjamin .... Ken
• Eric Bogosian .... Burt
• Billy Crystal .... Larry
• Judy Davis .... Lucy
• Hazelle Goodman .... Cookie Williams
• Mariel Hemingway .... Beth Kramer
• Amy Irving .... Jane
• Julie Kavner .... Grace
• Eric Lloyd .... Hilly
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus .... Leslie
• Tobey Maguire .... Harvey Stern

Full Cast & Credits

Film Remarks

Woody Allen roared back at his detractors with Deconstructing Harry, a bitterly funny treatise about the creative process. Known to mine his often tumultuous personal life for his movies, the embattled writer-director-star didn't bother to make his alter ego likable in this movie: Harry Block (Allen) pops pills, frequents prostitutes, and cheats on the women in his life, then writes about their foibles in thinly disguised fiction. No wonder they're all furious with him.

As Harry journeys to his alma mater with a hooker, ill pal, and kidnapped son, a series of flashbacks unravel, juxtaposing Harry's relationships with their "slightly exaggerated" fictional counterparts. There are amusing cameos throughout, including a humorous turn by Demi Moore as a fictitious ex-wife who "became Jewish with a vengeance," and Billy Crystal as the devil who found Hollywood too nasty for his liking. The humor is dark and caustic, but well worth it; Deconstructing Harry is a near-brilliant mediation on the sometimes queasy relationship between art, creator, and critic. On DVD, the film is presented in both widescreen and pan and scan; the disc includes cast bios.

--Diane Garrett on Amazon.com

Deconstructing Harry Film Trivia & Awards

Many fans already know that Woody Allen wanted actor Elliot Gould to play the character of Harry. But did you also know....

Budget: $20m (USA)

$10.569m (USA), UKP 564,200 (UK)
DEM 1,795,078 (Germany)
Release Date: August 26, 1997 (Venice Film Festival), December 12, 1997 (USA), January 21, 1998 (France), May 21, 1998 (Germany), February 18, 1998 (Belguim), April 17, 1998 (UK), July 10, 1998 (Finland)