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    Hannah and Her Sisters

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    "Hannah and Her Sisters" is about equal comedy and drama and it works because of how genuine the movie feels. If you hear the premise, it sounds like a typical romantic comedy: A man (Michael Cane as Elliot) is dissatisfied with his marriage and falls in love with his wife's less uptight sister (Barbara Hershey as lee) Meanwhile Hannah (Mia Farrow) has an ex-husband (Woody Allen as Mickey) is a hypochondriac and her other sister (Dianne Wiest as Holly) is trying to figure out what she wants to do while bouncing between odd jobs. Who will get together? Who will fall apart? When you break it down you see that a lot of romantic comedies have similar plot elements or characters, the wacky best friend, people keeping information from each other leading up to several misunderstandings, the current spouse vs. the more exciting and free one, the wacky and awkward situations where people who want to avoid each other are forced in the same room and the comedy spread in-between to lighten up the subject.

    What makes “Hannah and Her Sisters” rise above all of the other similarly themed romantic comedies is the characters. They feel really genuine and are all well fleshed out. With Elliot and Lee, even though they shouldn't be together acknowledge that they have an attraction. Mickey (played by Woody Allen) goes through a religious crisis when he becomes convinced that he’s about to die. You learn a lot about all of these people in a very efficient way. Think about it, there are a lot of people here (I bet you had to go back up to that first paragraph to remember who was who) but the film lasts less than 1hr and 45 minutes. Credit is due to Woody Allen here. Even some side characters feel real. For example, an architect takes us on a tour of the city so he can impress a couple of women and we get to actually see the tour he gives us so you can tell that this guy is genuine and it makes you want to see one of the girls get together with him... but which one?

    All of the performances and great and are totally convincing. There are subtle touches that add a lot of reality to the roles. There are some really touching moments that stand out for me, like a scene where Elliot talks to his wife and you see what he can and can't admit to her not only because of the dialogue, but also because of the way it’s delivered and by the way Caine performs with his face. This isn’t all about the drama of infidelity and finding love though, there are a lot of really funny moments, like the Mickey’s constant visits to the plethora of doctor's offices to get more opinions on his “fatal” prognosis.

    The movie is really smart and doesn't shy away from subjects that are relevant to you but are seldom discussed in films and yet it never feels like it has an agenda or it's trying to push an opinion. It's just like watching real people playing out their lives and that makes it extremely satisfying to watch. I found the end particularly strong because it all falls together perfectly, but not in the way I expected it to. With a lot of laughs, smart writing and some good drama too," Hannah and Her Sisters" is terrific. (On DVD, February 15, 2013)

    10
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    adamwatchesmovies@  2.8.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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