Hannah and her Sisters (Mia Farrow)

(Amazon UK link)

I had never heard of the film ‘Hannah and her Sisters’, but spotted it at a church sale. The blurb sounded interesting, and the cast list impressive, so I forked out fifty cents. It sat on the shelf for a while, but we decided to watch it last night.

Mia Farrow is superb as Hannah, a successful wife and mother who seems to be the peacemaker and found of knowledge in her dysfunctional family. Except that we know, from the opening scenes, that her husband Elliot (Michael Caine) is secretly lusting after Hannah’s sister Lee (Barbara Hershey).

Lee lives with a rather bizarre hermit-like artist called Frederick (Max von Sydow); it appears that she was once his student, and he still likes to teach her. But she’s finding his refusal to leave the house increasingly irritating, which leaves her open to looking for romance elsewhere…

The third sister is Holly (Dianne Wiest). She is an unreliable and manipulative addict, who never feels good enough for anyone. Hannah had tried to set her up with her first husband Mickey (Woody Allen) and there’s quite an amusing scene involving a totally disastrous evening they spent together. Holly keeps trying to do something constructive, but when she writes a novel it proves to be the catalyst for Hannah to start questioning many things.

This film is considered one of Woody Allen's finest, although his role is not the starring one. Most of the humour involves his hypochondria, and search for some form of religious certainty.

The story is primarily character-based; each character changes in subtle ways. The story runs over the course of a year, from one Thanksgiving (hosted, of course, by Hannah) to the next. The various subplots unfold alongside each other, and there’s a growing awareness that Hannah isn’t quite as secure and confident as she appears. Nobody ever asks her what she likes or wants. And she seems so self-reliant that some of her loved ones find her rather stressful to be around.

The film was made in 1986, and feels more dated than that; perhaps it was intentionally so. We found it quite engrossing. The characters all feel believable, and there’s a good mixture of light-heartedness and poignancy. It's rated 15 in the UK, PG-13 in the US. Nowadays I suspect it would be just 12 in the UK, as there's no violence, and only the mildest of bad language. There are sexual references, but nothing explicit. Not that it would be of much interest to younger viewers.

‘Hannah and her Sisters’ was beautifully made, brilliantly cast. Definitely recommended if you like thirty-year-old character-based films of this genre, with a great deal more depth than more modern rom-coms.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Truth About Cats and Dogs (Janeane Garofalo)

(Amazon UK link)

We watched ‘The Truth about Cats and Dogs’ at the end of 2011, and had entirely forgotten what it was about. But it looked like a good light evening’s viewing when we wanted something that would not tax any brain cells.

Janeane Garofalo stars in this as Abby, a qualified vet who answers questions about animals on a popular radio show. She responds to visitors with friendliness and charm as well as taking their concerns seriously and helping them with their questions. We see her sorting out a few basic problems, and then she has a call from Brian…

Brian (Ben Chaplin) is a photographer who is struggling with a dog on roller skates. I didn’t entirely grasp why the dog was in this situation, but it was quite nervous and resisting any attempt to help it calm down, or to remove the skates. Abby talks Brian through approaching the dog in a submissive way, helping it to calm down by stroking the ear tips, and her techniques are successful. I also didn’t gather why the dog, Hank, was available for adoption, but Abby persuades Brian to take him home…

Brian is so grateful - and rather smitten by Abby’s telephone manner and voice - that he sends her a gift, and asks her on a date. However, although Abby is very confident with animals, she’s extremely self-conscious about her appearance, and reluctant to go out with any guys. So although she agrees eventually to meet him, she describes herself fictitiously, based on the appearance of her tall, blonde neighbour… and then stands him up.

This sets the scene for an increasingly tangled comedy of errors. Abby’s neighbour Noelle (Uma Thurman) is outgoing and confident with men, but not particularly intelligent. She’s also considered very attractive, although personally we thought Abby had a much nicer face, at least until Noelle started persuading her to use make-up, which rather spoiled her appearance.

Brian is told that Noelle is Abby, when he sees the two together, and Abby pretends to be a friend called Donna. Brian likes Noelle’s appearance very much, but is puzzled as to why her voice is different, and that she seems to be lacking intelligence. Both the young women are attracted to him, and this leads to a temporary rift in their friendship…

It’s a nice story, if a bit predictable, and has a good mixture of humour and poignancy. The question is raised as to whether Brian is more attracted to the personality he has got to know in the real Abby, or the appearance he sees in the person he thinks is Abby. In this era when some people care so much about looks, it’s a good message, but we failed to see why the real Abby was considered unattractive, as she is bubbly, with incredible eyes, and a friendly, pretty face, whereas Noelle is extremely tall and rather too thin. But perhaps that was deliberate, making a parody of some people’s expectations.

It’s rated 15, probably because of one strongly implied sexual scene and one or two instances of strong language, although the US rating of PG-13 is probably more appropriate. Not that it would be of much interest to children or younger teenagers anyway.

All in all, we liked this film very much.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews