Alice, 1990

I have to admit that the cover ad for this 1990 film, a close-up of Mia Farrow looking to one side while wearing a big red hat, put me off for many years from this movie---we are irrational beings when we decide these things sometimes, aren't we? Maybe I thought it was about a fashion model or something; I can't really say. But since I have enormous respect for Woody Allen, especially his work after about 1977, I gave in to watch this one. (I am most attached to his work from the 1980-1990 decade, although he may be having a new peak period recently also.) I was in the mood for comedy, and that is the essential tone of it. Yet it's much more complex and variegated beneath the surface than that simple image of Mia suggests. Even so, like nearly all Allen's movies, this is narratively pretty straightforward. She plays a rather ordinary (if quite wealthy) woman in New York who grows dissatisfied with her life, and ends up seeking the help of an accupuncturist. The movie enters lightly into a realm of mystery, then into gently comic fantasy, as this Dr. Yang proves to be somewhat, well, calmly unusual. "Alice" is of kindly spirit, and ultimately--past the playful detours of the recurrent Woody Allen interests in eavesdropping and spying--it's about disappointment and renewal, in a light tone. Although a few minutes longer (at 106 minutes) than his usual zippy pace, the movie remains sprightly and interesting all the way through. The diverse and talented cast is always an added bit of fun, too. Maybe women would have more initial interest in this than men, but the relationship between Mia and Joe Mantegna should snag the recognition of many men, too. In absolute terms, maybe this is somewhere between a 3.6 and a 4.1 star rating, but as a personal favorite, I will allow myself to give this warm, playful dream a straight 5 point oh. 1-09

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