HANNAH AND HER SISTERS

The first thing that struck me about this film is the impressive cast.  Besides Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, who were in the middle of their well-documented relationship, we get Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey, Max Von Sydow, Diane Wiest, Carrie Fisher, Sam Waterson; and even the very small parts are played by the likes of Richard Jenkins (the father of the Fisher family in 'Six Feet Under').  Apparently Julia Louis-Dreyfus turns up at one point but I failed to spot her.

Several of Farrow's children make uncredited appearances in the background as Hannah's children, including Soon-Yi Previn, who later became Allen's wife.

This is an ambitious project for Allen, a more serious drama than we might expect from him, with three female characters at its heart, generally eschewing the usual one-liners.  Like a lot of comedy-dramas, it is neither out-and-out funny, nor does it reach any great dramatic heights.

Mia Farrow was unimpressed with a rough draft of the script, and Allen agreed with her critique, but the preparation for the film had reached such an advanced stage that major rewrites weren't possible.  I feel she might have had a point, notwithstanding that the screenplay won an Oscar (!).

One of the screenplay's weaknesses is that the storyline which centres on Allen's character Mickey (who is a TV writer, naturally) feels disconnected from the main story, even if he is Hannah's ex-husband. 

He is a hypochondriac (again: naturally) who has a major health scare, but when he is given the all-clear he falls into a state of existential despair because he is still going to die someday, and isn't life meaningless?  He flirts with various religions but the thing that breaks him out of his depression is watching the Marx Brothers' classic, 'Duck Soup'.  All of this seems from a different film altogether, and isn't very interesting.

In the main story, Hannah's husband Elliot starts an affair with one of Hannah's sisters Lee, whilst the other sister Holly is struggling to succeed romantically and career-wise.  Both Elliot and Holly resent Hannah's serenity and self-sufficiency, but rather surprisingly the film doesn't seem that interested in Hannah until near the end when she tries to find out why Elliot is being moody and not his usual self.  Disappointingly, in terms of the drama heating up, she doesn't discover the truth.

Instead the various situations get resolved far too easily.  Lee hooks up with someone new and Elliot decides he does love Hannah, whilst Holly and Mickey fall in love and marry, and she becomes a successful writer.

I'm giving the impression that I don't rate the film, which is not the case. There is much to enjoy throughout,  I just don't think it warrants the degree of praise it usually gets or the three major Oscars it received.

Two scenes though stand out for me.

One is of the three sisters at lunch, with the camera slowly moving around them, featuring some good dialogue and fine ensemble acting.

The other is when Mickey and Holly accidentally meet in a record shop.  It's a nicely written and acted scene, in which he is charmingly amusing about a disastrous date they once went on.  There is a genuine warmth and sweetness between them which is not always the case between Allen's character and his love interest.

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do