Woody Allen
Alice

"Alice" is a 1990 comedy. The undisputed star is the uninspired Mia Farrow accompanied by other more or less valid actors like Alec Baldwin (who plays the ghost), William Hurt (who plays the unfaithful husband), and Joe Mantegna (who plays the lover).

Directed and written by Woody Allen, the film is about a rich and bored woman who lives a very superficial life, between shopping and lunches.

The director highlights the protagonist's emotional problem, who, although engaged in her dietary and cosmetic projects, is somewhat depressed because she realizes the emptiness of her life.

It will be her encounter with a Chinese magician that opens her eyes: through fantasy journeys and dreams induced by rare herbs, she will be able to make decisions about her life, finally taking it in a different direction.

Allen uses the film to address a social trend where the vast majority of people turn to any form of spiritual life, as long as it is not religion. Psychoanalysis, yoga, acupuncture, macrobiotic foods, esoteric essences, and gurus: in short, something to believe in. People try to escape reality because they have a spiritually empty life.

If in the film "Another Woman" the protagonist Marion hears voices through the wall that determine the change in her life, here there is a comedic approach: the same type of woman comes to re-examine her life.

"Alice" is a film about freedom, about women's liberation, but as the Chinese magician says, "freedom is a frightening feeling."

Talking about Farrow: I do not believe in the talent of this actress, not at all comedic and very little expressive. The comedy is really light and struggles through dreamy ideas to hardly stand on its own. It dully discusses a dull situation. The pace is too slow, and the actors are often blurred and impersonal. The conclusion is bizarre and trite, completely misaligned with the film's pace, and instead of giving a jolt and unraveling the altogether predictable plot, it appears rushed and drawn out. If the resource lies in the actors, there isn't anyone that stands out for their performance, also because I don't think, apart from Farrow, there were opportunities for the others.

A positive note is the music, which nostalgically weaves into introspective moments like "I Remember You" in an orchestral version and "Alice Blue Gown" by Glenn Miller, and they fill one of the most forgettable films of the prolific New York director.