Alice

Released 1990
Stars Mia Farrow, Joe Mantegna, William Hurt, Judy Davis
Directed by Woody Allen

Woody Allen's "Alice" snatches its heroine out of the cradle of luxury and takes her on a dizzying tour of the truths in her life, fueled by the mysterious herbal teas of an enigmatic acupuncturist. It's a strange, magical film, in which Allen uses the arts of the ancient Chinese healer as a shortcut to psychoanalysis; at the end of the film, which covers only a few days, Alice has learned truths about her husband, her parents, her marriage, her family and herself, and has undergone a profound conversion in values. Because this is a Woody Allen film, a lot of that metaphysical process is very funny.

Alice (Mia Farrow) has been married for 16 affluent years to Doug, a stockbroker played by Hurt as a kind of human deflecting machine, whose physical and verbal postures seem designed to avoid any kind of actual contact. He's always changing the subject, usually into silence. One day Alice is taking the kids to school and drops a book on the stair, and the book is returned by a dark, handsome stranger (Joe Mantegna), and instantly she begins thinking about having an affair. The very notion shocks and thrills her, and after Dr. Yang (Keye Luke) discovers her secret, he gives her various herbal potions, including one to make her invisible, and another that gives her the knack of talking seductively.

"Alice" lacks the philosophical precision of Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors," and the psychological messiness of "Hannah and Her Sisters," and it also lacks the rigorous self-discovery of his underrated "Another Woman." It's in the tradition of his more whimsical films, like "A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy." And yet lurking in the shadows are some seductive questions. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a man like Dr. Yang, a deus ex machina to drop into our lives with his herbs and paraphernalia, and lift the scales from our eyes, and free us from our petty routines and selfishness, and allow us to practice the sainthood we have always suspected lies buried deep inside?

Summary by Roger Ebert

I enjoy mystical, magical films like this, because I like to imagine being able to mess with Mother Nature like this. My ultimate dream would be to turn invisible like Alice and Joe. Joe makes a comment about heading to the YWCA, which is pretty much what I'd have in mind, but assassinating Al-Qaida members would be fun too. I did have one minor quibble with this film, and that's that I wish Woody would not have written the character of Alice as a female version of himself. I enjoy watching Woody play himself, but I don't really like to see other people play him.

I enjoyed this film as a light comedy, but I couldn't help thinking how great it would be as a drama. If the husband was the upstanding (but distant) man he appeared to be, you'd have a great morality play. By making him a philanderer, it lets Alice off the hook and makes the comedy work. The ending makes me wonder if Woody had been flirting with the idea. Some people may complain the ending is a feminist's dream, but it really works. --Bill Alward, January 19, 2002