Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) User Reviews (208)

Why do I like this movie so much?

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 27 October 2022]

I 'd say it was because it's one of the most joyous, life-affirming films I've ever seen. It just makes me feel so good.

All the characters are engaging and funny. Woody is hilarious as the neurotic hypochondriac television producer who gets the idea he's got a brain tumor, and is almost as upset when he finds out he doesn't have one as he'd be if he did (have a brain tumor, that is.) He realizes that even if he is not going to die in the near future, he is going to die sometime, as are we all. He becomes obsessed with this idea, that death waits for us all, and if there's no God, no afterlife, what's the point of it all? So he embarks upon a quest to find Religion, a religion, any religion, that will satisfy him that there's something beyond human mortality.

Of course there's no answer to this, but Woody's desperate odyssey to find some meaning to a life that inevitably ends in death, some kind of certainty, is both something we can all relate to (maybe without the desperation) and extremely funny.

We don't find out till nearly the end of the movie how he resolves this. But there's no magic answer, no guru telling him some cosmic secret. Woody's epiphany is much more simple than that; it's that he discovers that life is sweet, and even if we only go around once and it all comes to an end, let's savor it while we're here. There's so much to savor. I can't express this the way Woody's character does in the film, it's best if you just watch the movie and vicariously experience his joy in this revelation.

There are lots of other delights in this film to enjoy along the way. All the actors are first-rate. Max von Sydow is especially moving as the rejected lover of Lee, one of the three sisters the movie follows over a period of two years. Lee is charmingly played by Barbara Hershey, while Mia Farrow as the "settled" sister, captures the two sides of Hannah, as someone who's both almost annoyingly perfect (at least as perceived by others) yet is actually as needy and vulnerable as everyone else.

But the most engaging character in Hannah and Her Sisters has got to be Holly, the quirky "off-beat" slightly edgy sister. Dianne Wiest won a well-deserved Oscar for this role. She makes Holly funny, touching, and sympathetic.

perceptive comedy drama

[didi-5 · 8/10 · 4 March 2004]

Woody Allen's film about a family and their romances and interactions features himself (as the perpetual neurotic), with Mia Farrow playing his ex-wife, Michael Caine – one of his best performances - playing her cheating husband, Barbara Herschey playing Farrow's sister and Caine's mistress, Max von Sydow playing Herschey's partner, and Dianne Wiese playing Farrow and Herschey's wild sister.

The strongest scene in this film features the lovely poem by e e cummings entitled ‘somewhere i have never traveled', which Caine sends to Herschey as a token of his regard for her. Other goodies include the touching ending when two misfits learn to love and accept each other. This is my favourite Allen movie as it brings together all the strands of movie-making at which he excels, and perhaps, along with Crimes and Misdemeanors, his strongest cast.

Three sisters and their intertwining lives

[blanche-2 · 9/10 · 22 March 2006]

In "Hannah and her Sisters," Woody Allen has created a funny, poignant, and sweet film about three very different sisters. The focus is Hannah (Mia Farrow), a successful actress currently married to Elliot (Michael Caine) and divorced from Mickey (Woody Allen). She's more of a mother figure to her sisters, Holly and Lee (Dianne Wiest and Barbara Hershey) than their own mother (Farrow's real-life mother, Maureen O'Sullivan) an alcoholic performer who likes to flirt with younger men, to the fury of her husband. Hannah handles her mother, puts up with Holly constantly borrowing money and then picking fights with her in that mother/daughter fashion, but she doesn't know that her sister Lee is having an affair with Elliot. And so it goes, as Thanksgivings pass and the women attempt to straighten out their lives.

This is one of Woody Allen's best films - I won't say best, because I love Match Point and Crimes and Misdemeanors more. The humorous parts of the films are provided by Wiest and Allen, and some of the lines and situations are hilarious: Holly and Mickey's disastrous date ("I had a great time. It was just like the Nurenberg trials"), Mickey's contemplation of suicide, and Mickey's fear of a brain tumor. Allen is brilliant as a man who believes he's living in a godless world but wants to believe. Though Jewish, he decides to become Catholic, bringing home religious info with his mayonnaise and Wonder Bread; when that doesn't work out, he talks to the Hari Krishna in the park. Wiest is as adorable as she is fantastic as a manic-depressive who goes from acting (including auditioning for a musical when she can't sing), catering (until her partner, played by Carrie Fisher, steals the man she thinks is her boyfriend), and finally writing.

The rest of the cast is magnificent and tackle some of the more serious moments of the movie: Michael Caine as Hannah's husband, looking for love in all the wrong places; Max von Sydow, Lee's tortured artist boyfriend; and Lloyd Nolan and Maureen O'Sullivan as the sisters' parents, in an imperfect marriage filled with love, booze, and jealousy. Hershey is lovely as a confused woman who adores her sister but looks to Caine for a way out of her relationship with a controlling boyfriend.

The film, of course, is filled with New York sights and sounds, including Bobby Short ("You don't deserve Cole Porter," Mickey screams at Holly. "You should stick with those rock musicians who look like they murdered their parents"), the opera, Central Park, etc., that give Allen's films their special atmosphere (until "Match Point," that is, which has a special atmosphere all its own).

A great film with Allen asking again about the meaning of life and, again, coming up with some good answers.

One of Allen's best films and definitely his best performance...

[NoArrow · 14 May 2004]

"Hannah and Her Sisters" is a comedy/drama (though mostly drama) about a dozen characters and their stories, all connecting back to three sisters: Hannah (Mia Farrow), Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne Wiest). Hannah is the favorite, talented and kind, Lee is almost equally favored, but Holly is the outcast, with a past of drugs and always asking for money. Other characters include Hannah's hypochondriac ex-husband Mickey (Woody Allen), her current husband Elliot (Michael Caine), Lee's boyfriend Frederic (Max von Sydow) and Holly's friend April (Carrie Fisher).

Like I said before, this is not so much a comedy as it is a drama. The comedy that's in it fits, and is good, but the drama is better. Elliot's secret love for Lee is handled in a romantic way, but their infidelity is still seen as wrong, and you feel their guilt and inner turmoil. Mickey thinks he has a brain tumor, he finds out he doesn't and then he feels worse, and starts desperately searching for a purpose to live. All the other stories are equally dramatic, with comedy fittingly sprinkled in places too.

The acting is quite good, everyone playing their part perfectly, whether it's big or small. The film's best performances come from Allen (in what's no doubt his best performance) and Dianne Wiest as the extremely under-confident youngest sister. Allen and Wiest don't necessarily carry the film, as there's no need to, but their segments were certainly the best, for me at least. The rest of the cast put forward too, especially Max von Sydow and Michael Caine in his first (and so far his only deserving) Oscar win.

Woody Allen's direction is at the top of its form here too, much like "Annie Hall" and his other greats. The camera work and use of voice overs are excellent. For instance, there is an intensely dramatic scene where the three sisters have lunch together and for the entire scene the camera rotates around the table, the speaker not always in the frame. His script is great too, it knows when to be dramatic and when to be funny and when to be both.

One of Allen's very best, 8/10.

perfect allen

[Movie_Man 500 · 10/10 · 23 August 2005]

Very funny comedy has one of Woody's all time best casts. Dianne Wiest is the best; glowing, neurotic, irritating and vulnerable, within minutes. Michael Caine is the most touching, Mia Farrow, as always, close to heartbreaking. I think it's her voice that does it. Nice scenes with her and her real-life mother, Maureen O'Sullivan.

Like Manhattan, this picture looks beautiful; NY in all its many breath- taking colors. The relationships of everyone on the screen are perfectly woven, and Woody has the best sight gag of the film when he takes a bible and a crucifix out of a paper bag (to find religion), and follows them up with some Wonder Bread and mayonaisse. Hilarious!

Deserving of its writing and supporting actor Oscars, it's too bad everyone in the movie couldn't have won. They're all believable and enjoyable to watch. My favorite: Max Von Sydow as the very cynical, older Frederick. He should have had more moments. Imagine him at one of the Thanksgiving dinners...

Arguably Allen's Best Work....

[mrcaw12 · 10/10 · 27 April 2004]

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Probably when all is said and done, my favorite Allen movie. This is definitely one of those examples where the sum is greater than the parts. Great shots of New York (specifically the city's architecture), great situations, great parties and great music

Among the Manhattan-dwelling characters is Michael Caine, who is married to Hannah (Mia Farrow) but lusts after her sister (Barbara Hershey) who lives with a tormented artist (Max Von Sydow.) Hannah's ex-husband (Woody Allen) starts dating her other sister (Diane Weist) who wants to date Sam Waterston, even though he'd rather date her friend (Carrie Fisher).

In addition to the cameo by Julia Louise Dreyfuss, the film features two supporting performances by old school actors, Lloyd Nolan and Mia Farrow's real life mom, the original Jane in the Tarzan movies, Maureen O'Sullivan.

If that's not enough, Allen throws in plenty of his trademark hypochondria hysteria, questioning the meaning of the universe and whether God exists.

Woody's best 80's movie

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 26 August 2001]

Woody Allen makes movies that will sometimes be partial duds with great lines and characters, and then he'll make an all around great movie like Manhattan, Sleeper or Deconstructing Harry. In the 80's, he had a period where most of his films were generally great (Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy might be the exception). But this is one of the gems in that period, a comedy with great acting matched with a finely tuned screenplay.

Though not without an ending that leaves everything a little too neat (however upon pressure from the studio, not Allen's original intentions of course), this is another relationship-centric picture, with the side-bar of Woody's character being chronically afraid of death and what comes after it. Deservedly his last big award winner, it's a possibility for my favorite Woody 80s movie (even if the experience in the theater sucked- the downside to seeing an Allen movie is the large amount of old people, and the occasional old man who sits very close with a constantly shifting candy wrapper, smacking lips, and a penchant for a horrible sinus conditon...just think who the fans of Woody movies will be then they croak).

A perfect movie

[juliette-6 · 10/10 · 10 July 1999]

This is what I would call a perfect film. This was my first Woody Allen experience and I have been shamelessly hooked ever since! I have probably seen it about 20x's and I always love it!! It has it all; it's hysterically funny at times (the hypochodriac), it's incredibly painful(afternoons) at others and the blending of the characters paths(lucky I ran into you) is just beautiful. I watch this movie every couple of months when I need a little cheering up and it always works. Highly recommended.

Where's Brecht when you need him? Someone needed to step in and ask "Do you really care about any of this?"

[antcol8 · 6/10 · 15 April 2017]

Ambition is such a tricky thing. Without ambition, Allen would never have made either Annie Hall or Manhattan. He really stretched. And I just saw Manhattan again, for the first time in years, and I found it nearly pitch perfect. Everything flows. Well, it's understandable that this level of achievement would embolden Allen to go deeper into Auteurism and Personal Cinema. But scenes like the Three Sister Luncheon in this film set the bar really high. Really high. Too high.

It's not like all the characters sound like little Woody Allens. That would come later. But their dialogue is such empty Upper New York chit - chat that reveals so little about inner life. I admit it is an amazing gift, the ability to reveal and expose the inner life of superficial characters. Few filmmakers have been able to do it - I'm thinking of Renoir and The Rules of the Game. But if you're gonna go there, you'd better be READY to go there! And...well, this film is fatally infected with Toxic Middlebrow - ism, and so you can't really tell whether Woody thinks their conversations are deep and revealing or pseudo - deep and pseudo - revealing. He's good, but not good enough to make a thing like that clear.

There's one scene I love: the one where Woody and Diane Wiest go on a date. She takes him to a Punk show. He retorts with Bobby Short. Bobby Short at the Carlyle equaling "Good Music" or "Real Music" tells me all I need to know about why I respect and appreciate this movie, but will never love it. The way that different kinds of Art can describe the gulf that exists between people - that is truth. And that's the same gulf I feel between this Ersatz Masterpiece and the Films in my Pantheon.

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 10/10 · 31 January 2005]

An interesting and very well acted slice of different people's lives, the film poses a number of intriguing questions in terms of life, death, love and relationships. It is a fascinating film: carefully directed and aided by some meticulously perfect use of non-original music. The film is split in chapters, and such a style makes the film flow very well. Despite being a drama, it is still manages to meld in some of Woody Allen's delightful wit, creating a film with laughs, pains, joys and sorrows. And then there is the quality of the acting, which is stunning to say the least. Mia Farrow is sensational in the best performance of her career, just brilliant as the providing, sustaining sister of the family, and Caine, Allen, Hershey, Kavner and even Max Von Sydow are all at their careers' best. For a film that has nowhere much too go, it is certainly quite something.

A serious comedy--or, the best and worst of Woody Allen

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 3 November 2005]

Woody Allen's films tend to run either hot ("Sleeper", "Annie Hall", "Manhattan") or cold ("Stardust Memories", "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy"). "Hannah And Her Sisters" falls somewhere in the middle. Ever since reading about Allen's contempt for the process of writing comedy (which he feels is infantile and beneath him), I find his blithe relationship-comedies less and less amusing. Only a few of the mixed-up, lovestruck, hapless or helpless characters in "Hannah" are really interesting. Hannah (Mia Farrow) tries to rally everyone with her sanity but she has no sense of humor; Lee (Barbara Hershey) is beautiful and contemplative, but listless; Holly (Dianne Wiest) is a goosey bauble one minute, a deflated cynic the next; Frederick (Max Von Sydow), Lee's older lover, seems straight out of an Ingmar Bergman drama; Mickey (Woody Allen), Hannah's ex, seems taken straight from "Manhattan". The picture meanders cheerfully, with side-plots stopping and starting like sketches. It's quite handsome, but there's no real engine at work, just a few pointed observations, lots of (heavy) nostalgia, and Allen's patented comic paranoia. Michael Caine as Hannah's husband (who harbors a mad crush on Lee) and Wiest both won Supporting Oscars; Allen won for his original screenplay. *** from ****

It IS a comedy

[DocFilm · 10/10 · 4 May 2005]

Contrary to the comments of many critics (including the usually sagacious Ebert) the film IS a comedy, in the classic sense, as is an opera buffa, The Marriage of Figaro, A Midsummer Night's Dream, etc. One IMDb commentator here, mattijohn, describes it: "Holly got over her depression and sense of rejections, Elliot has gotten over his infatuation with Lee and finally realises how much he in fact loves Hannah and loves her, Lee is in a better relationship, in which she does not feel looked down upon etc. Similarly Mickey gets over his neurosis and gets on with living his life, not thinking and worrying all the time about happens next." Mozart, or Rossini, would write a final chorus with all of these principals voicing their joy.

Spoiler for HaHS

[DocD456 · 6/10 · 23 November 2003]

*Spoiler* The movie is based on Hannah and her three sister's: Lee who is involved with a man named Frederick (Max von Sydow) who is somewhat of an artist, Holly who is aspiring actress and writer, and Hannah who is basically the backbone of the three who is nothing perfect which in turn gives her husband Elliot (Michael Caine) somewhat of a dilemma because he is in love with her sister Lee.

The movie starts out with nothing but a caption: `God, she's beautiful.' Which gets you wondering what heck their talking about. It's Thanksgiving and Elliot sets the tone of the movie by telling the viewer how he is madly in love with his wife's sister. Thus, starts the love triangle. He had been secretly in love with her for quite a while until one day while bringing a friend to view some of Lee's boyfriend's paintings he breaks down and kisses her. They confess their love for each other and they continue to have an affair behind Hannah's back. Hannah starts to suspect something is going on but doesn't assume anything. Lee ends up leaving Frederick for Elliot but he fails to follow through with breaking up the marriage with Hannah. Meanwhile Holly runs a catering business with her best friend April (Carrie Fisher) and auditions on the side for various Broadway shows but doesn't succeed to make it in any of them. Her luck gets a little better when she starts writing her own stuff and one day runs into Hannah's ex-husband Mickey Sachs who is played by Woody Allen at the record store. He falls in love with her writing as well as her in the process. Elliot and Lee's love end up falling short of a success. Elliot realizes how much he really loves Hannah, and Lee doesn't want to play games anymore, everything turning out for the best.

I thought the movie was entertaining overall. It tended to jump around a lot from one point in time to the next, which was pretty irritating. The acting was excellent from Michael Caine, and Woody Allen playing a typical Woody Allen part. The movie really had no apparent point to prove or problem to solve. I give it 6 out of 10 stars because the acting, quality of the movie was good. It lacked pieces of the story that were missing, and whatever happened to April, Holly's friend. Although it was entertaining.

Especially deadly Woody Allen effort

[mnpollio · 2/10 · 20 April 2011]

Allen fans - and I am not among them - usually rate Annie Hall and this film as his best. It most certainly is the most indicative of Allen's shortcomings as a director/writer/actor that put off his detractors.

Hannah is Mia Farrow and her sisters are played by Barbara Hershey and Dianne Wiest. The film depicts the various melodrama and relationship issues that plague the three and their extended family. With possibly the exception of Farrow, every character in this dirge is selfish, unsympathetic and whiny. When they are not yammering incessantly at each other, then Allen allows us to overhear their inner thoughts - which basically consists of further yammering - only they don't move their lips. Everyone is either oblivious to obvious events around them or are busy trying to cheat on someone else in the film.

Farrow's husband is played by Michael Caine, who barely seems aware of Farrow's existence because he is too busy pursuing a romantic liaison with Hershey, who is in a relationship with an older artist played by Max Von Sydow. Wiest is a habitual drug addict on the hunt for Mr. Right, but consistently seems to lose them to her more attractive friend Carrie Fisher. Their parents, Maureen O'Sullivan and Lloyd Nolan, are eccentrics in their own right. And lingering through all of this is Allen as Farrow's hypochondriac ex-husband.

If the film seems unfocused, it's because it is. The story is all over the map and we have no rooting interest in anyone. If Caine takes Farrow for granted, so does the film. The film may be called Hannah and Her Sisters, but Hannah has no big moments and virtually nothing to do for its running time. Yet Allen - whose character has the most tenuous tie with the family at best - is given a lion's share of screen time to incessantly ramble on and on and on about his search for meaning in life.

A good deal of the supporting cast is wasted. Von Sydow, Fisher, O'Sullivan, Nolan, and Sam Waterston, among others, have nothing to do and just float in and out by writer's fiat. The fact that Allen fails to provide a strong role for Farrow as the proverbial lead is inexcusable. Caine and Hershey are awfully energetic, but it is impossible to be caught up in their story as he is basically a philandering cretin and she a dishrag pushover pressured into betraying her sister. Wiest is good, but again her character is not especially likable. In fact, none of these characters are especially likable with the exception of Farrow - and that may only be because she is the cipher at the center of the whole mess without many discernible personality traits.

Fans of Allen adore this, but anyone else would be wisely urged to steer clear of it.

Woody's more mature rumination on Manhattan life & love with an impeccable ensemble cast

[JawsOfJosh · 4 September 2002]

While I am a Woody Allen fanatic, I'm not sure if I agree with the minority of Woody fans who claim this is his best film, instead of "Annie Hall". Sure, I would be quick to elect "Annie" as Woody's best, but then I regard "Manhattan", "Stardust Memories", "Crimes & Misdemeanors", as well as "Hannah And Her Sisters", and I become unsure. This is certainly one of Woody's most mature films, and I would freely place it in my top five of Woody's works. It nicely balances comedy with drama, and it also began a new era of high accomplishment for Woody. Functioning as an ensemble drama loosely organized around three sisters, "Hannah" chronicles several stories at once. The film has an incredibly warm, intimate feeling about it, as people talk in their earth-toned apartments over J.S. Bach or stroll through the city's crisp autumn air. What rings most true about this film is that it doesn't end quite the way you thought it would (the words "too tidy" and "unpunished" get unfairly used a lot), yet it ends as it should.

Ironically, Hannah (played by Mia Farrow) doesn't fare too deeply in the film. The eldest of three, she's the family matriarch soothing her aging parents, a showbiz couple reluctantly settling into old age and blaming each other for it. Her husband Elliot (Michael Caine expertly stuttering & flushing) is consumed with guilt over his heavy crush on Hannah's sensuous, down-to-earth sister, Lee. Lee is slowly pulling away from her failing relationship with Frederick (the always excellent Max Von Sydow), a horribly misanthropic curmudgeon whose reliance on her as his last link to humanity becomes suffocating. The youngest sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest - kicking ass as usual), is a nervous, impatient actress whose insecurity and lack of success lead to competing with her best friend April over work and men. Meanwhile, Hannah's ex-husband Mickey (Woody), a severe hypochondriac, is trying desperately to accept his eventual mortality and still find some meaning in life, which it what it seems all the other characters are trying to do. I won't say where the stories are going or where they all end up, but I will say the ensemble cast is all-around great, Michael Caine and Dianne Wiest are definitely the stand-outs here (their Oscars were well-deserved), but Max Von Sydow and Barbara Hershey do quite fine as well. As for Woody - Mickey is the kind of character that fans were probably waiting for him to play for years, and he pulls it off with his classic ticks & twitches.

Woody's evident genius is shown here by juggling the separate stories back & forth so fluidly. Most attention seems to be focused on Elliot and Lee during the first half (both conflicted & confused), while the second half slightly centers around Mickey and Holly (both nervous & unsure). Mickey operates mostly as an outsider and the strength of his story doesn't pertain too much to "the sisters" (although there are two hysterical flashbacks sequences, one involving Hannah and the other detailing a disastrous date with Holly). Another masterstroke on Woody's part are the internal voice-overs. Woody is too smart to know that there are certain thoughts a person has that will exist only in their head, and extracting these feelings into some kind of dialogue with another person would seem forced. It's casual pacing, novelistic endeavors, vivid characters, cozy settings, heartfelt music and sharp, candid dialogue are what makes this film hold up beautifully for me after dozens of viewings. It's an absolute Woody Allen film.

"I luuurve it, I loave it, I luff it"

[Galina_movie_fan · 10/10 · 5 May 2006]

This story of three sisters, their lives, loves, and struggles is delight from the beginning to the end. Along with three unforgettable women, Hannah (Mia Farrow, the eldest sister, a devoted wife and mother, a loyal sister to sensual Lee (Barbara Hershey) and artistic, neurotic and clueless Holley (Diane Wiest, a perfect match to Allen's characters), we meet their actors parents. Maureen O'Sullivan, "Tarzan's Jane", Mia Farrow's real life mother plays the flirting and drinking mother of three sisters. There are also three men in the sisters' lives: Elliot (Michael Caine), Hannah's husband who understands how great Hannah is but he is lusting after Lee, who is with a much older, wiser, talented but misanthropic and isolated artist Frederick. Here is also Mickey (Woody Allen), the former husband of Hannah, a hypochondriac TV producer who lives in constant fear of death and tries to find meaning of life. All stories interweave effortlessly and seamlessly showing Allen's unique writing gift. As almost always in Allen's films, there are two important characters, his favorite place on Earth, Manhattan, NY and the music he adores. And as always, they add to the many many delights of this wonderful, sparkling, clever, ironic, sweet, funny and dramatic miracle.

Excellent!

Allen's best film.

[Rockwell_Cronenberg · 10/10 · 28 February 2012]

I revisited Hannah and Her Sisters today for the first time in a few years and loved it even more than ever. Woody Allen is capable of bringing so many emotions out of me, and I think this is him undoubtedly at the peak of his craft. The fullness that he brings to these characters is so extraordinary, in less than two hours he brings more complexity to a wide array than even most television shows are capable of doing in entire seasons. Each person feels like they are a living, fully realized person and there's so many of them, each with their own full interactions and relationships. It's powerful stuff.

I think at his best Allen's ability to create genuine characters is almost unparalleled, and this is the best example of him doing just that. Of course that doesn't come alone and he's aided by one of my favorite ensemble casts ever. Every single one of them takes his words from the page and brings those characters to life in such powerful ways, transcending character and becoming entire human beings. I honestly can't think of a film that so effortlessly, fluidly brings together comedy and drama, the way that naturally occurs in life. Perhaps that's the best word for the film and it's ensemble cast; natural. Whether it's Barbara Hershey bringing me to tears, Max Von Sydow putting me in stitches of laughter or Michael Caine doing both at the same time, each member of the cast excels in every single scene. It brings me to such highs and lows, from the joy of Caine and Hershey in the bookstore to the devastation of the breakup scene.

The use of voice-over is marvelous, bringing us further into these character's heads, again aided by the appropriately expressive cast. It's always intuitive without ever being overly reliant. Throw in some heavy themes revolving around life, death, love, religion and everything that comes along with them, which Allen weaves in seamlessly without allowing them to overshadow the characters, and Hannah and Her Sisters is one of America's finest filmmakers at his absolute pinnacle.

Made long ago, still fresh, fun, and relevant

[inkblot11 · 10/10 · 20 August 2013]

Hannah (Mia Farrow) is in her second marriage. Her first, to a television director (Woody Allen) ended in divorce, after having a set of twin boys. Now, hubby number two (Michael Caine) is a very successful businessman and she, as a semi-retired, admired actress, can devote more time to other things. You see, everyone else in her extended family depends on her. Sister Lee (Barbara Hershey) is in a longterm relationship with a talented artist (Max Von Sydow), who would rather sell his work to a small circle of fans instead of "going commercial". Thus, Lee is contemplating going back to school so she can earn money, too. The artist is also very reclusive so, at family gatherings, she often arrives alone. Plus, she has a secret admirer in Hannah's husband. Third sister Holly (Diane Wiest) is on shakier ground than Lee. She is a struggling actress/caterer who borrows money from Hannah LOTS. Her catering partner (Carrie Fisher), also a wannebe actress, ends up going after the same men and roles that Holly has her eye on. As a side note, Holly once had a dreadful date with Hannah's ex, after the divorce. Then, too, Hannah's parents, retired, famous thespians, drink too much and, even after 50 years, have big fights. Can Hannah keep solving all of their problems without saving enough time for herself and her marriage? This terrific Allen movie was made more than twenty five years ago but it is still fresh, relevant, and funny. The cast, yes, is wonderful, with many of the players up for major awards. Allen, especially, is very funny as the hypochondriac who tries many religions in a search for serenity. His script, of course, is clever, intelligent stuff while his direction is quite wonderful. As always, the Manhattan setting, costumes, background music, and photography is nice as well. If, you youngster, you, want to begin making your way through the canon of Allen films, you could hardly start with one better than this.

WOODMAN'S 2ND OR 3RD BEST!

[shepardjessica-1 · 9/10 · 5 November 2004]

Except for MANHATTAN, this stands alongside of ANNIE HALL as the top of the game for the brilliant Woody Allen. A total rep company atmosphere (in New York) with Michael Caine giving one of his most subtle and touching performances. Dianne Wiest (her 1st of 2 Oscars for W. Allen films) is striking, funny, and ultimately all too human. Barbara Hershey (always talented since LAST SUMMER) has the perfect role at her age, at that stage of her career, to play Lee (one of the sisters), and Mia Farrow was born to play Hannah (the all-too-together control freak). Add in Max Von Sydow (superb), Daniel Stern buying ART by the yard, and Lloyd Noland Maureen O'Sullivan (Mia's real-life Mom who played Jane in the Tarzan flicks of the 30's) are belligerent and beautiful.

A 9 out of 10. Best performance = Diane Wiest. If you don't get this one, give it up (especially if you don't trust Woody Allen), check into a New Mexico motel, pretend you know Dennis Hopper in the 70's, and buy ice all night long..waiting for Karen Black.

Perceptive comedy-drama, but not a masterpiece.

[gridoon · 7/10 · 21 January 2000]

"Hannah and Her Sisters" is a very good movie that, unfortunately, falls short of greatness. Alternately entertaining (as a comedy) and penetrating (as a drama), this film has many wonderful moments, and is filled with superb dialogue. All the actors deliver first-rate performances; Michael Cain in genuinely touching when he is trying to decide his next moves in his life, Hershey is warm and radiant and Allen himself is delightful in his role. The script is perceptive throughout (look for the scenes when Caine shares his thoughts and plans with us) and the main characters do have depth.

The only flaw here (and, I think, a crucial one) is the too-tidy ending. I wouldn't have preferred a thoroughly depressing conclusion, but the way everything gets "settled" in the end was just too neat. Still, I read somewhere that the "upbeat" tone of the ending was "required" partly by the studio who made the film, so I guess this flaw is forgivable. Nevertheless, it doesn't allow this movie to become a masterpiece.

Second only to Crimes and Misdemeanours as among the best of Woody Allen's 80s work, also one of his best

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 1 March 2014]

Woody Allen is not a personal favourite director of mine and he is admittedly not everybody's cup of tea. While his filmography is not consistent(are there any directors that have) the best of his work is truly exceptional, as seen with Annie Hall, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanours and Husbands and Wives(just a few examples). Hannah and Her Sisters joins those exceptional films, along with Crimes and Misdemeanours it is one of his best films from the 80s. What is especially good is the acting and the screenplay. Michael Caine is just wonderful and thoroughly deserved his Oscar, Woody Allen himself has rarely been funnier and Max Von Sydow in perhaps a nod to Ingmar Bergman gives a poignant performance too. Barbara Herschey and Mia Farrow also do a great job, Farrow as one of Hannah and Her Sisters' most relatable characters. Likewise with Carrie Fisher and Sam Waterson. But special mention has to go to Dianne Wiest, whose performance is among the best of any Woody Allen film, a list that includes Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanours for example. The script is one of the best, tightest and most multi-layered of any Woody Allen film(his best is still Annie Hall in my view, one of the best and most quotable screenplays of all time), it is very funny especially with Allen, has sharp observations told with forcefulness and truth in distinctive Allen style and is touching too. The story is not the tightest structurally, but it is still perhaps the most heartfelt and relatable of his films and is one of Allen's most successful efforts combining comedy and drama(Crimes and Misdemeanours and Annie Hall also). Hannah and Her Sisters is beautifully filmed, one of his most visually striking pictures along with Manhattan, and Allen directs faultlessly as he mostly did. In conclusion, Allen's second best film of the 80s and also one of his best films, exceptional on all counts. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Good Woody Allen but awfully familar

[preppy-3 · 6/10 · 1 December 1999]

Well-done comedy-drama following a neurotic family over the course of three years. Well-acted, well-written, but Allen covers no new ground here (except him trying on other religions). He's examined these characters and situations before. What makes the movie watchable is excellent acting, Farrow excepted (she's shallow and her acting is REAL bad!). Hershey is brilliant as a woman who gains strength and courage over the course of the movie and Weiss is very good as a woman who starts out not knowing what to do with her life, and ends up getting everything in order. Everything is nicely resolved, no depressing endings (OK--that IS original for Allen), but nothing we haven't seen from him before. Worth seeing, but not up to "Annie Hall" or "Manhattan".

Just Outstanding

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 22 March 2019]

Woody Allen's genius is unparalleled when it comes to mixing a set of characters, each with his or her foibles and angst and integrating them. Here we have three sisters, each with her own set of problems and joys. They are brought together by holidays and this leads to their playing off each other and looking back at what brought them here. With an amazing cast, we have the stable, the fragile, the damaged, all still loving one another. There are affairs and secrets and dalliance. There is also hypochondriac Mickey (Allen) who is doomed to unhappiness because he thinks too much. He believes he has a close encounter with death, and when he is given a clean bill of health, he can't think what to do with his new life. I would urge anyone who has not seen this to put it on the list.

Very Woody Allen

[saraccan · 7/10 · 18 June 2019]

Has all the unique characteristics of a Woody Allen film if you ever saw one. The casting choices, their intelligent conversations and love triangles. Amazing acting by pretty much everyone and a nice chill story.

Story of three sisters' career and relationship struggles in their daily lives.

Does not stand the test of time

[sbsieber · 2/10 · 8 January 2017]

I saw this movie when it first came out, and I thought it was just great, although I did not like Michael Cain in his role. Fast forward however many years, and I caught it on TV. Still didn't like Michael Cain in the movie - too whiny and overwrought, but so was everyone else. What a terrible movie! It has not stood the test of time. All the characters are high-strung, navel gazers who talk too much and say very little. The Allen Method of acting, which is basically improvising, looks so corny and amateurish in retrospect, and not at all realistic. Mia Farrow's voice could drive anyone insane, and her character is insipid; her sisters treat her like dirt, and her husband uses and abuses her.

Just awful.