Critic Reviews

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Rank 3 Reviews

Expert Review Summary

Movie critics combined give Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) a score of 3.2859 out of 4

based on (44) reviews

Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating

Excellent

(18)

Very Good

(25)

Good

(1)

Fair

(0)

Poor

(0)

Reviews by Score:

TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

Essentially three separate tales that intertwine at times, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS is one of writer-director Woody Allen's most complex films and the first one in which his neurotic character is given a happy ending. The picture takes place over a couple ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

dvdfuture.com (Anthony Clarke)

But while 'Hannah and her Sisters' still holds up strongly, I find that the rest -- all the rest -- have dated badly. They seem somehow laboured in their humour -- that is, when the humour has survived. ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at dvdfuture.com (Anthony Clarke)

Time Out (--)

Allen's previous three films (Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose,The Purple Rose of Cairo) were thin, clever sketches fleshed out with characteristic one-liners. Here he returns to the territory he knows best, Manhattan. Of the three sisters (this is very much ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Time Out (--)

Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)

Woody Allen writes a flock of wonderful characters, quirkily casts some of the best actors of his generation into them, and then naturally steals the show himself. It's cerebral and funny and moving and profound, but the most powerfully evoked emotion is ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Brilliant Observations on 1173 Films (Clayton Trapp)

Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review

Most of it takes place indoors or at night, and the fluorescent lighting makes everything look a little orange. The edges are soft and the darker scenes are indistinct. The sound is monaural. Woody Allen's script contains a much more elaborate mixture of ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review

Crazy for Cinema (Lisa Skrzyniarz)

I've just never been able to understand the allure of Woody Allen's work. Maybe if he didn't act in his own films I would like them more, but he's always the same neurotic New Yorker who somehow manages to win the beautiful girl. Don't buy it and at ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Crazy for Cinema (Lisa Skrzyniarz)

Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review

It continually surprises us, when we go back and watch Woody Allen's older films, how many future stars have walk on parts, and also how many references there are to May-December and, for that matter, January-December romances. John Turturro pops up in a ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review

Apollo Guide (Guy MacPherson)

It sometimes seems almost pointless bothering to write reviews of Woody Allen films. ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Apollo Guide (Guy MacPherson)

Apollo Movie Guide (Guy MacPherson)

Woody Allen's slice-of-life look at the lives and loves of three sisters. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, the film covers the full range of Allen obsessions: love, sex, death, philosophy, architecture, music, adultery, religion, and the meaning of ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Apollo Movie Guide (Guy MacPherson)

Reviewlets (Brian Robert Hischier)

Comedy writers who understand the need to mix in a little contrast to the humor usually do so with the blunt instruments of tragedy---while satisfying on the surface, this doesn't do much to challenge the spirit of mankind---Woody Allen, with Hannah and ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Reviewlets (Brian Robert Hischier)

filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)

Manhattan and Annie Hall are generally considered to be the best films from director/writer/actor Woody Allen. [Especially by those who haven't seen Bullets Over Broadway.] They're both better than Hannah and Her Sisters, a good film with a solid story ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)

Long Che Chan

I don't know why I like Woody Allen's films so much. He, like myself, admires Ingmar Bergman's films and his movies have a sort of wonderful way of making you feel giddy. Most of them are funny. Hannah and Her Sisters has its big laughs, but its primary ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Long Che Chan

The Digital Bits

Ranking as one of Woody Allen's best films, the often hilarious, often frightening Hannah and Her Sisters is one of Woody's most personal films. If you're aware of his very public personal history, Hannah almost serves as a cinematic look back into his ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at The Digital Bits

Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)

I've seen a good number of Woody Allen pictures, enough so that I doubted that I could still be surprised by his work. Well, I just rented and watched "Hannah and Her Sisters", and it made me fall for good old Woody all over again. Yes, in a way, it's ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)

DVD MovieGuide

"Hannah and Her Sisters frequently feels like too much fake angst, and the characters lack the personality to involve me. The DVD offers bland and unremarkable picture and sound plus very few ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at DVD MovieGuide

DVD Savant (Glenn Erickson)

Perhaps the single best film of Woody Allen's 'mature phase', Hannah and Her Sisters is a well-observed drama about romantic entanglements between several women, their husbands and boyfriends, all balanced with one of Woody's neurotic characters for ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at DVD Savant (Glenn Erickson)

digitallyOBSESSED.com (Debi Lee Mandel)

Quick-what do almost all Woody Allen films feature more than any other director's (besides Woody Allen...)? Fabulous roles for women. ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at digitallyOBSESSED.com (Debi Lee Mandel)

Zertinet Movies Review

"Hannah And Her Sisters" is the type of film that commandeers the mind. No matter how passive a viewer you are, how much you attempt to dismiss it or judge its characters, Woody Allen reaches past those sleepy, cynical, or questioning eyes and makes you ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Zertinet Movies Review

Movie Vault (Goatdog)

I tend to like Woody Allen's movies, but not when he's in them. There's something about him that just annoys me (I realize that is what he's going for in a lot of his movies, but it works too well). The Gods of Film will strike me dead for this, but ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Movie Vault (Goatdog)

Roger Crow

It might sound like a meeting of Hypochondriacs Anonymous but that, in a nutshell, is some sample dialogue from Woody Allen's movies. It doesn't matter which one because he tends to play the same character in all of his films. Weedy, nervous, suffering ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Roger Crow

DVD MovieGuide

Brimming with laughter, tears and subtle beauty, Hannah and Her Sisters is a magnificent "summation of [Woody Allen's] career to date" (The New York Times). ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at DVD MovieGuide

Classic Film Guide

Directed by Woody Allen (Annie Hall (1977)), and featuring Michael Caine's & Dianne Wiest's first Best Supporting Actor/Actress (Oscar winning) performances, this Oscar nominated (for Best Picture) comedy tells so many truths about relationships and life ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Classic Film Guide

Edinburgh U Film Society (Michael Morrison)

Allen, making fun of himself in a way which only people with really big egos can, plays a hypochondriac, neurotic television producer whose life is transformed by a visit to the doctor which really gives him something to worry about - a brain tumour. ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Edinburgh U Film Society (Michael Morrison)

Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)

Hannah and her sisters are the offspring of a New York show business couple (Lloyd Noland and Maureen O'Sullivan) who even in old age are busy trying to upstage each other. Mom has a drinking problem, and dad is always snapping at her. As their youngest ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)

The Spinning Image (Daniel Auty)

Hannah and her Sisters is probably the warmest of Woody Allen's comedy-dramas, and despite much infidelity, soul-searching and repressed bitterness, it has neither Manhattan's subtle contempt for its characters, nor Crimes and Misdemeanors' ...read the complete Hannah and Her Sisters movie review at The Spinning Image (Daniel Auty)