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Hannah and Her Sisters

Reviewed by Christopher Null on May 14 2001
DVD Release Date: November 6, 2001

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Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Christopher Null founded Filmcritic.com in 1995.
full bio of Christopher Null
It's not his best, but Hannah and Her Sisters is definitely Woody Allen's second best. The film does everything a Woody film should -- it deals with complex issues in a hilarious way. Up this time, as the title suggests, is the notion of family, as Allen skewers a dysfunctional clan led by three sisters (Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, and Barbara Hershey) and the rotten men the come in and out of their lives.

Allen plays his neurotic self to perfection, this time a hypochondriac TV executive and ex-husband of Hannah (Farrow). Michael Caine, though, steals the show as Hannah's current husband who falls in love with sister Lee (Hershey), herself living with an aging, pedantic shut-in (Max von Sydow).

The acting is sublime, but the little touches push Hannah to greatness. Allen's photographic compositions are among his best ever here, spying on Caine as he makes eyes at Hershey from afar while we play along with the game. His musical selections, always impeccable, are fantastic here, with Harry James' trumpet music belting out the emotion.

An unequivocal classic (and winner of three Oscars -- for Wiest, Caine, and Allen's screenplay) that any Allen fan must own. Or anyone with a family, for that matter.

Part of The Woody Allen Collection, Set 3.

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