Husbands and Wives (Mike's Take)

Husbands and Wives

Written by Woody Allen

Okay, let’s begin this in earnest. You and me, talking movies, talking original screenplays, the most consistently interesting category at the Academy Awards. You get interesting concepts fleshed out, quirky ideas, no sequels, no remakes, no adaptations of any kind. So where do we start?

I find it very fitting that we start with Woody Allen, one of your idols, so you already have a much stronger frame of reference for this movie than I do. I love Woody, and I love his movies, but I’ve only actually seen a handful of them. Annie Hall, Manhattan, the “Essential Woody Allen” collection, if you will.

To get things out of the way so I can talk about the actual script, though, it’s pretty interesting that this was the last Woody movie Mia Farrow ever appeared in, and that it was released in the wake of all that unpleasantness. The things that were going on in the real world in 1992 certainly lend this movie a contextual relevance it might not have had otherwise. I’m not sure if that warrants further conversation, since we’re just talking MOVIE here, but it’s worth noting.

So onward towards “Husbands and Wives,” not the document of Woody Allen’s tumultuous personal life, but the movie Woody Allen made because he felt like it. It's wonderful and kind of funny that the very first lines of the very first movie we watched for this project are a brief diatribe on writing as a craft. You’re either good or you’re not. You can’t teach it. Gabe (Woody) is a writing teacher who believes you can’t teach writing.

I was struck by how honest this movie was. I know Woody has made as many dramas as he has comedies by I honestly believed, going into this one, that I was about to watch a comedy. As such, the movie caught me off guard. None of the four leads come off as particularly well-balanced people. Every time you almost like someone, you get Jack berating his girlfriend outside of a party, or Gabe attempting to seduce his student, or a confessional from an ex-husband hinting at Judy’s true nature.

About those confessionals, too. At first they reminded me of Spinal Tap, but the more I watched they seemed more like an early take on the style employed by “The Office” and “Parks and Rec.” I cite those examples partially because, with Spinal Tap, it makes sense that a documentary crew would be following them. Why are cameras constantly on Michael Scott? Why are they following this group of dissatisfied married couples? It makes no sense, but it works well stylistically. This is how we can get Gabe to confess things that he would never say to his friends. I really loved his addiction to “kamikaze women,” who crash and burn but take with you with them.

The movie is also great at portraying that seething rage that can accompany long-term relationships. These are people who can barely stand each other but stay together largely out of obligation. Once Jack and Sally announce their separation, Gabe and Judy see the opportunity to put the kibosh on their own relationship. Gabe goes after Rain, Sally starts looking for excuses to leave Gabe, etc.

About the only new coupling in the movie’s second act that didn’t click with me was Mike falling head over heels for Sally. Not just because Liam Neeson wasn't brutally murdering anyone with his bare hands while talking angrily into a cell phone, but also because Sally is so cold. The movie makes a point of that, but it never really goes into why Michael finds that so appealing. Jack and Sally (a whole year before Nightmare Before Christmas!) are miserable people. It makes sense that a younger woman would shack up with Jack, because he’s old, refined and smart. It makes sense that they would end up back together, too. I just don’t get Michael’s devotion to Sally, so strong that he nearly torpedoes his later relationship with Judy over it.

Those are some rough thoughts. I definitely really liked this one and was surprised by it at nearly every turn. I didn’t even realize until just now that the characters talk about their kids a lot but we never meet them. Are there any children in any Woody Allen movie?

Anyway, onto Lorenzo’s Oil, I suppose!