Brennan Camacho
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
Sarita Rafferty
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Paul Kydd
Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)USA 1990 English (Colour); Comedy/Romance/Fantasy (Orion); 106 minutes (15 certificate)Crew includes: Woody Allen (Director/Screenwriter); Robert Greenhut (Producer); Jack Rollins, Charles H. Joffe (Executive Producers); Carlo Di Palma (Cinematographer); Santo Loquasto (Production Designer); Susan E. Morse (Editor)Cast includes: Alec Baldwin (Eddie), Blythe Danner (Dorothy), Judy Davis (Vicki), Mia Farrow (Alice Tait), William Hurt (Doug Tait), Keye Luke (Dr Yang), Joe Mantegna (Joe Ruffalo), Bernadette Peters (Muse), Cybill Shepherd (Nancy Brill), Gwen Verdon (Alice's Mother)Academy Award nomination: Original Screenplay; Golden Globe nomination: Actress - Musical/Comedy (Farrow)"A younger man and a bolder woman."A neglected, unfulfilled housewife (Farrow) fantasises about having an affair with a divorced musician (Mantegna), when she is made to reappraise her life on visiting a Chinese acupuncturist (Luke, in his final film) for a bad back, and is instead prescribed magic herbs that allow her to lose her inhibitions, turn invisible, and communicate with a dead ex-boyfriend (Baldwin).Overfamiliar elements - Farrow (back then), jazz soundtrack (plus, in this case, subject matter), very Allen-esque dialogue (though without the man himself appearing) - combine with a gentle romance demonstrating a nice change of pace for normally tough-guy Mantegna.Important lesson - disregard trivialities in favour of what's important - emerges from this lightweight Allen.Blu-ray Extras: Trailer. * (2/10)
gavin6942
A spoiled Manhattan housewife (Mia Farrow) re-evaluates her life after visiting a Chinatown healer (Keye Luke).So, this film has the interesting historical footnote of being the first films for both June Squibb and Lisa Marie. This is about the best thing that can be said for the film. (Actually, the cast as a whole is pretty darn good.) This is supposed to be Woody Allen's take on "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Well, yes, it certainly is that. But if the lead character was not named Alice, perhaps the viewer would never make that connection. There seems to be less Alice here than there ought to be.One has to wonder about the Mia Farrow years versus the Diane Keaton years. Maybe it is the writing, maybe the directing, but it seems that the Keaton years of Woody's work were so much stronger than the Farrow years. In some films, particularly "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy", Farrow is just downright awful.
blanche-2
Mia Farrow is "Alice" in this 1990 Woody Allen film. Here, Allen borrows from "Juliet of the Spirits" and "Alice in Wonderland" to make a delightful movie about an unhappy woman trying to find herself.Alice (Farrow) married a wealthy man (William Hurt) and gave up a career in fashion. She has everything - a gorgeous New York apartment, two children, and servants. She spends her time shopping and having beauty treatments. At her kids' school, she meets a man (Joe Mantegna) and is shocked to realize that she's attracted to him. When she goes to a Dr. Yang (Keye Luke) for a back problem, Dr. Yang sees right away that Alice's pain is psychological. He gives her an herb to take.The herb has an amazing effect on Alice, who then openly flirts with the object of her affection, Joe. Dr. Yang keeps hitting Alice up with potions: one makes her invisible, so she can watch Joe with his psychiatrist ex-wife (Judy Davis); another reunites her with the ghost of her first love (Alec Baldwin). Alice and Joe finally get together. But one of the potions helps her to find something out that she not only didn't know, but that changes her life.Mia Farrow does a good job as Alice; in my opinion, other than "Rosemary's Baby," she did her best work with Allen. The rest of the cast is good and sail through this film about self-discovery, unrealized goals, and passion. An unsung film of Allen's that deserves more attention.
runamokprods
While I still don't flat out love this film, I was surprised to find I liked it much more on a second viewing. While my original problem with it - thematically it's arguably a weaker, less original re-make of 'Purple Rose of Cairo' still stands, I found myself charmed, caught up and moved, off-setting those moments that are clunkier, too cute, or even borderline racist in their stereotypes. It will never be my favorite Allen film, but it's certainly still a strong effort and Mia Farrow may never have been better. There's enough movie magic here, that it's certainly worth seeing, and for myself, owning.
