FROM THE MOVIE REVIEW VAULTS: EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU
Feb 14, 2021
Drew Barrymore, Goldie Hawn, Natalie Portman, Edward Norton, Alan Alda, Woody Allen, Billy Crudup, and Julia Roberts: This excellent cast alone should be a good enough reason for anyone to see this movie. The main character of the film is DJ (Natasha Lyonne), who narrates the relationships, aspirations, and dysfunctions of her family. Her father, Joe (Woody Allen), is trying to woo Von (Julia Roberts); her stepsister, Skylar (Drew Barrymore), is getting engaged to Holden (Edward Norton); and Lane (Gaby Hoffmann) and Laura (Natalie Portman), her two younger stepsisters, are competing for the attention of a cute guy who they’ve had a crush on for months.
Woody Allen and his incessant neuroticism are always a scream to watch. He’s the real stand-out of the movie. The worst actor is Natasha Lyonne, who is average at best. There are so many interesting subplots in Everyone Says I Love You that it’s an annoying distraction when Allen takes the focus back to the main plot, which is DJ’s quest for the ideal man. These are the moments in which the movie tends to lull the most.
With those objections noted, there is much love between the two couples. The way they look at one another, all starry and misty-eyed, gives you hope that maybe there is the possibility of true love. Moreover, the choreography is fantastic. The dancers tap in perfect synchronicity with one another. Be sure to check out the guy jump roping and tap dancing at the same time.
The actors are great at breaking down the barrier between film and audience: They make the audience aware of the fact that they know this is a movie. One quote from DJ that exemplifies this is: “We thought we’d better make it into a musical instead of a movie or else no one would believe it.” Everyone Says I Love You is a delightful reminder of why we go to see movies in the first place: “They transport us to a magical place,” as Martin Scorsese so eloquently once put it. “It’s like a dream state.”
This article originally appeared in the October 2, 1997 edition of Towson University’s newspaper, The Towerlight. I would like to think that I’m a better and more well-rested writer since my college days. I would also like to think that the same thing can be said for my editor at the time. So I’ve made some necessary revisions.