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The understanding Jack and Sally seem to have between each other in that opening scene is soon shattered, Jack quickly moves in with a younger woman and Sally realizes that he was carrying on an affair. The riff extends itself to Gabe and Judy on two levels; they cannot truly pick a stance on the issue after knowing their longtime best friends as basically one unit. The other, more important issue arises within the examination of the legitimacy of their own marriage. This is a Woody Allen movie, so of course this examination comes not with complete communication between the two, but with their own small explorations into what being with other people would be like. Gabe begins to slowly take advantage of the admiration one of his students holds for him. Judy turns her respect for her editor at the magazine she works for into infatuation. Allen saw the advantage with establishing the premise in the opening scene; the audience experiences the plot’s revelations right along with the characters.

Lending even more to the film’s realism comes with its storytelling style; throughout the film we see short clips of the characters discussing their feelings and motivations to an off-screen interviewer. “Husbands and Wives” isn’t exactly a dramatic mockumentary, the interviewer beings to represent many different possibilities. In some scenes the characters answer to him like a marriage counselor, shrink or even the viewer. At some points one may question the actions of a character and be directly answered in the following scene. This element establishes a connection between the audience and the drama that is rarely experienced. One of the film’s truest and most revealing scenes comes when Gabe discusses the rampant seduction male professors inflict on their female students, using the student’s admiration and respect as the weapon of choice. He confesses to always resisting the idea until meeting Rain, expertly played by Juliette Lewis.

Knowing the controversy that surrounded the real life relationship of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow at the time of this film’s release in 1992, what’s presented here is a true example of art imitating life. That being considered, there is a few ways “Husbands and Wives” can affect the viewer. One might be knocked off-guard by one of the movie’s bitter themes, that there’s a good chance that all marriages can deteriorate into one long confrontation. On a lighter note, another may feel a sense of relief after the realization that they don’t have the insecurities and neuroses that severely conflict the characters in Woody Allen’s movies.

What’s contained in “Husbands and Wives” is material Woody Allen has repeatedly returned to in his prolific career, it doesn’t quite measure up to the impossible standards “Manhattan” and “Annie Hall” set, but it has enough quality to be just on the same level as the acclaimed “Hannah and Her Sisters” and the under appreciated “Anything Else.”

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originally posted: 07/19/04 10:13:50
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