Starring Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams Directed by Woody Allen Rated R, with strong, frequent profanity Running time 95 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 10 out of 10

(Jan. 2, 1998) -- "I'm no good at life but I write well." So says writer Harry Block, the morally bankrupt philanderer at the center of Deconstructing Harry.

And since Harry is played by Woody Allen -- who also wrote and directed the film -- it's easy the way the blend of Allen's checkered personal life and superb artistry have fueled this brilliant film.

Deconstructing Harry is a devastatingly honest, hysterically funny film. While his work is always known for its self-analytical bent, this is the filmmaker's first movie in several years to put his own public persona centerstage. It's easily one of his finest films yet, and one of the best movies of 1997.

Allen reportedly thought of titling the movie The Worst Man in the World; certainly, he's never been so hard on himself before. After all, he's been devilish before, but in this film he literally goes to hell.

Harry Block is a successful Manhattan novelist whose tales have been built around the author's foibles, endless sexual exploits and a path through life littered with betrayed friends and lovers.

"You take everyone's suffering and turn it into gold," says Lucy, his roaringly angry sister-in-law (Judy Davis), after she comes to his apartment, bent on revenge. "I want to kill the black magician."

Lucy will have to wait in line. There are plenty other companions and former lovers and wives who'd love to turn him into chopped liver.

Of course, Harry doesn't see why everyone's so upset with him. He's a master of rationalization. For example, when he's accused of creating a life of nihilism, sarcasm and orgasm, he retorts, "In France, I could run on that ticket and win."

To deconstruct Harry, filmmaker Allen cuts back and forth between dual realities -- Harry's real misguided adventures and the reflections of that life through the characters of his books (brought to life on film).

And to populate both worlds, Allen has assembled one of his most entertaining and diverse casts. Besides the fabulous Davis, there are Kirstie Alley, Richard Benjamin, Eric Bogosian, Demi Moore, Mariel Hemingway, Amy Irving, Elisabeth Shue, Stanley Tucci, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Billy Crystal as the devil.

If that's not enough, Robin Williams contributes a cameo in the film's most original and hilarious aside; he plays a movie actor who is shocked to discover he's always out of focus. (The bit has to be seen to be understood -- and laughed at.)

Allen also experiments here with rougher language than he's ever used before on film. Nonetheless, the profanity seems part and parcel to a guy like Harry, so it's tough to argue with his decision.

Like Harry, of course, Allen has demonstrated a remarkable ability to achieve superb artistry, even during his very public 1990s crisis with Mia Farrow, their children and new bride Soon-Yi Previn. But Allen has seldom been as technically assured as he is with Deconstructing Harry.

The film opens, for example, with quick, jerky repeated cuts of Judy Davis, as Lucy, getting out of a cab to confront Harry. Though we're initially confused, we eventually realize Allen has discovered a visual way to depict the out-of-control rage in Lucy -- the scene is a visual equivalent of sputtering with anger.

It's just one of the many elements in "Deconstructing Harry " that display Allen's continued mastery as a filmmaker. Like Harry, Allen's life is a mess, but he's a heck of an artist.

And that's what should matter to his audience.