ALICE Alice MGM Home Entertainment 1990 / Color / 1:78 anamorphic 16:9 / 106 min. Starring Joe Mantegna, Mia Farrow, William Hurt, Keye Luke, Alec Baldwin, Blythe Danner, Julie Kavner, Judy Davis, Cybill Shepherd, Gwen Verdon, Patrick O'Neal, James Toback, Bernadette Peters, Elle Macpherson, Lisa Marie, Bob Balaban Cinematography Carlo Di Palma Production Designer Santo Loquasto Film Editor Susan E. Morse Original Music Philip Braham, Douglas Furber Produced by Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe, Robert Greenhut Written and Directed by Woody Allen
	Reviewed by Glenn Erickson Hopefully Woody Allen will be remembered for his films and not his personal problems. I know people who once laughed themselves silly over his 'naughty' sex jokes, who now consider them evidence of some deep moral sickness. Allen was recently quoted as saying something to the effect that he made his films really only for himself, and after he's gone he doesn't care what becomes of them. Well, we like them, Woody, even if you insist on being unsentimental ... Alice arrived in 1990 and made one of the smallest splashes of any Allen film outside of his self-consciously Bergmanesque dramatic shows. Accompanied by one of the shortest (54 seconds) and most intriguing trailers on record, the general audience declared it not very interesting just the same. Savant disagrees entirely. Synopsis: Alice Tate (Mia Farrow) is the very wealthy but disenchanted wife of the aloof Doug (William Hurt), who treats her with barely-disguised condescension. An affair with a musician, Joe (Joe Mantegna) she meets while picking up her child from school, kindles anxieties and hopes. But the real catalysts to her reawakening are the herbs and potions (and even opium) given her by the mysterious Dr. Yang (Keye Luke). They change her personality, bring on memories of her childhood and early lover, and even allow her to become invisible so as to see the world as it really is. The final herb is a love potion that will make whoever she gives it to fall madly for her forever. But who to administer it to, her philandering Doug, or Joe, who wants to return to his ex-wife? Light, whimsical, and unimpressed with the idea of integrating its 'magic' elements in a rational way, Alice is definitely a comedy, yet is also one of Allen's more serious attempts to stretch his range, while enjoying a revisit to the styles of his favorite directors, Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini. Dr. Yang's magic is a pretext to bring on deft memory moments ... Alice's return to the ruined past is definitely Wild Strawberries in the way time bends to allow her to talk with friends and family long gone. Critics do have some ammunition to throw at Allen: the main characters, especially Alice and Joe, seem to be parts of Allen's personality (Joe is even an aspiring concert musician making content with playing at a lesser level), and of course, everyone talks at Allen's measured, stand-up pace ... even their straight lines. Alice, when she gets nervous, is a female Woody, especially when being seduced in a musician's loft apartment. Savant thinks the success of Alice lies in this spoiled-but-questioning woman's ability to see through her romantic unhappiness, to the problems with her lifestyle criticized by her outspoken older sister (Blythe Danner). Catholic guilt stops being a fast punchline for Allen, as he examines it more deeply. It's odd that Allen should be the one to proclaim so much good in Alice's conversion, from a puppet wife spending money and dishing dirt with petty friends, into a socially committed person. In this he's aided immeasurably by Mia Farrow's winsome Alice, who always seems lost, but is never a lost soul. Often wearing a little red hat, she reminds of that innocent little mouse character in a series of old Warner Bros. cartoons. She bounces between a ghost lover (Alec Baldwin) who takes her flying over NYC, and games played while under the influence of Dr. Yang's invisibility potion. These remain resolutely Woody (stepping invisibly from a taxi, Joe says "Gee, nothing shocks these New York cabdrivers!) but also have the power of Dickens ... would seeing the truth of our loved ones really make a difference in our hearts? Savant loves the scene that many thought was tossed off, the one where Alice's decision of who to inflict Dr. Yang's final love potion, is pre-empted by a party accident that ends with her inundated by a flood of hopped-up suitors. It may be a mechanical story device, to make Alice choose for herself instead of force a man to love her, but Savant prefers to believe otherwise. Obtaining peace of mind by commanding another's love has limits too, and nailing either Doug or Joe to a commitment would just be another status quo prison ... Alice instead wants personal freedom, from her limiting, controlling husband and the romantic demands of a lover. Woody Allen's Alice is both charming and thoughtful. MGM Home Video's DVD of Alice is a simple presentation of quality. The 16:9 image far outstrips the previous full-frame laserdisc and VHS, especially in the darker scenes, which no longer disappear into grainy murk. The music is punchy and Woody's preferred mono mix is just fine. There's no commentary, and no docu, as Allen has contractual control over these elements and prefers that his work stand by itself, without self-analysis or hype. So if you want to know more about Woody, there are several good books in the library. The very short trailer is all the frills ya get. Savant edited an Orion ShoWest reel in 1990 that included a promo by Allen. It consisted of only one shot of Allen in the corner of a soundstage, talking free-form about his 'new movie' (identified only as 'new Woody Allen project') and making a few cute jokes about exhibitors while reading his cast list from a crumpled piece of notebook paper. Our instructions were that the take had to be shown without alteration, no cutting, no music, nothing - from camera stop to camera stop. So it began and ended with white flashes! Such was the power of Mr. Allen. MGM still has several of these promos in their library, but by contract can't show them: each was screened exactly once, at the ShoWest presentations! On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Alice rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent Supplements: Trailer Packaging: Amaray case Reviewed: June 6, 2001 [Savant Links] [Article Index] [Review Index] [About Savant] DVD Savant Text © Copyright 2007 Glenn Erickson Go BACK to the Savant Main Page. Return to Top of Page