- Director: Woody Allen
- AMG Rating:
- Genre: Comedy Drama
- Movie Type: Satire, Urban Comedy
- Themes: Crumbling Marriages, Breakups and Divorces, Teachers and Students
- Main Cast: Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Mia Farrow, Sydney Pollack, Juliette Lewis
- Release Year: 1992
- Country: US
- Run Time: 103 minutes
- MPAA Rating: R
Plot
One of Woody Allen's most seemingly biographical films, Husbands and Wives opens with upper-middle class Manhattan couple Sally (Judy Davis) and Jack (Sydney Pollack) announcing to their best friends, the Roths, that they are splitting up. Gabe Roth (Allen) and his wife Judy (Mia Farrow) are taken aback by their casual revelation. Jack begins dating his dim, but sexy, aerobics instructor and Sally starts up a tentative romance with Michael (Liam Neeson). Gabe and Judy begin analyzing their marriage, discovering that they might not be meant to stay together. English professor Gabe begins a serious flirtation with a student of his named Rain (Juliette Lewis) and Judy begins to have feelings for Michael. Eventually, Sally and Jack reconcile, but have not improved their relationship. Gabe and Judy end up going their separate ways. Husbands and Wives was seemingly influenced by Ingmar Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie GuideReview
A docudrama style look at infidelity and marriage amongst a group of fortysomethings, this penetrating film by Woody Allen contains all of his signature one-liners and New York valentines, but with a refreshing sense of irony and brittle humor. Husbands and Wives doesn't stray much from his dissections of romance past, which include the remarkable Annie Hall, but this newer film features a self-reflexive nature absent from many of his previous efforts. The cast is uniformly first-rate, especially Judy Davis as the film's foremost neurotic, and a welcome addition to writer-director Allen's gallery of fine female portrayals. Interestingly, the film opened after a highly publicized real-life scandal involving Allen, Mia Farrow (also featured in the film) and Farrow's adopted daughter, Soon-yi Previn. Many critics noted that watching this film was like peering into the private lives of its principal characters, especially in a film whose key theme is remaining faithful in a rocky marriage.~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Cast
- Woody Allen - Gabe Roth
- Judy Davis - Sally
- Mia Farrow - Judy Roth
- Sydney Pollack - Jack
- Juliette Lewis - Rain
