--- title: "Husbands and Wives: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/husbands-and-wives/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/husbands-and-wives" critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Husbands and Wives (1992): what the critics said Critics' score 84 from 11 reviews: 10 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics rate Husbands and Wives among Woody Allen’s strongest films, and several call it his best since Hannah and Her Sisters. The praise clusters on the ensemble acting, with Judy Davis singled out almost everywhere and Sydney Pollack close behind. The handheld, documentary-style camerawork is the other point of agreement: most reviews find its jerky, raw manner well suited to the characters’ confusion as their marriages come apart. The film itself is read as a study of mid-life panic and jealousy, brutal and funny at once. The reservations are few and mostly about the same thing. Time Out thinks the handheld camera is occasionally overdone, and The Independent goes further, calling the pseudo-documentary style self-consciously amateurish and asking whether the film works as quiet self-justification given the parallels with Allen’s own life. The New Yorker also finds it uncomfortably personal. That is the only real dissent; the spread is narrow, with one mixed review and none negative. ## Empire — Mark Honigsbaum Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The review describes the black comedy as brimming with poignant exchanges and a triumph as both art and propaganda, praising performances especially from Davis and Pollack while noting its resonance with Allen's personal life makes it one of his best since Hannah and Her Sisters. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/husbands-wives-review/) ## Little White Lies — MT Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2016. The critic calls it one of Allen’s most mature examinations of relationships in turmoil, noting how the handheld camera and abrasive style convey the characters' emotional bruises while still allowing for rare emotional growth, exemplified in Gabe’s dynamic with Rain. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/top-ranking/the-films-of-woody-allen-ranked) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 September 1992. Ebert praises the film as a raw, insightful exploration of the difficulties of marriage and relationships, noting how the characters' rational facades crumble under personal desires. He singles out the jerky, documentary-style handheld camerawork for effectively mirroring the neurotic confusion of the characters. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/husbands-and-wives-1992) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 April 2002. The critic calls the film a neurotic but universal masterpiece and one of Allen’s most personal and incisive works, cataloging the insecurity and fear that rocks marriages when another breaks apart. He singles out Allen’s paranoiac gaze and understanding of the emotionally fragile period after breakups, including jealousy, the desire to return to ex-lovers, and comfort in loveless constancy. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/husbands-and-wives/) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic describes the film as an engrossing study of mid-life crisis and tangled relationships, praising its vividly drawn characters and strong performances, especially from Judy Davis and Sydney Pollack. It is called Allen's finest since Hannah and Her Sisters, with minor note that the handheld camera is occasionally overdone. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/husbands-and-wives-1) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 August 1992. McCarthy calls it major Woody Allen, a richly satisfying ensemble piece about neurotics in relationships that stands with his best work like Manhattan. He highlights the radical shift to handheld camerawork and cinema-verite style alongside the strong ensemble acting, especially Judy Davis. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1992/film/reviews/husbands-and-wives-2-1200430482/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 18 September 1992. It is praised as an assured, penetrating lacerating comedy about love turned sour and destructive emotional dead-ends, Allen's best work since Hannah and Her Sisters. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-18-ca-415-story.html) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 18 September 1992. The critic calls it a very fine, sometimes brutal comedy about edgy New Yorkers in relationships, an ensemble piece acted to perfection. It is seen as strong, wise and exhilarating despite real-life parallels. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/18/movies/review-film-husbands-and-wives-fact-fiction-it-doesn-t-matter.html) ## The New Yorker — Terrence Rafferty Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 14 September 1992. The film is described as an uncomfortably personal, meticulously constructed argument about the impossibility of marriage, using raw style to depict neurotic needs and self-delusion in relationships. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1992/09/21/getting-old) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 22 October 1992. The critic highlights the film's self-advertisingly amateurish pseudo-documentary style and questions whether it serves as subtle self-exculpation amid real-life scandals, while praising Judy Davis's performance and noting the film's focus on relational unease without smugness. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-two-s-a-crowd-woody-allen-s-husbands-and-wives-reviewed-1559051.html) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating B+. 20 May 2011. The critic praises the film's acerbic take on marriage and relationships, highlighting the brilliant ensemble performances especially Judy Davis, and commends the innovative documentary-style aesthetic for its energy and realism. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-complete-woody-allen-a-retrospective-pt-2-1992-2011-20110520/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/husbands-and-wives.md