Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Movie · 1996 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 41m · R · English
Curator score: 5.7/10 (41.9K ratings)
Overview
A New York girl sets her father up with a beautiful woman in a shaky marriage while her half sister gets engaged.
Ratings
- Curator score: 5.7/10
- IMDb: 6.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
- TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Woody Allen
Production
Sweetland Films, Jean Doumanian Productions
Cast
Woody Allen, Natasha Lyonne, Goldie Hawn, Alan Alda, Drew Barrymore, Edward Norton, Julia Roberts, Lukas Haas, Gaby Hoffmann, Natalie Portman, Tim Roth, David Ogden Stiers, Billy Crudup, Robert Knepper, Diva Gray, Patrick Cranshaw, Kevin Hagan, Itzhak Perlman, Trude Klein, Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, star-studded romantic comedy-musical with real charm, clever fantasy flourishes, and a playful New York-to-Europe postcard sheen. It’s uneven and the central romantic logic can feel strained, but the ensemble energy and offbeat tone make it rewarding for viewers open to a whimsical, lightly satirical Allen experiment.
Best for
- fans of 90s ensemble comedies
- viewers who like romantic films with a surreal or theatrical twist
- people who enjoy witty upper-middle-class relationship satire
- audiences curious about an unusual, talky musical
Skip if
- you want a tightly plotted romance
- you dislike Woody Allen’s mannered dialogue and worldview
- you prefer musicals with strong vocal performances over conceptual charm
- you’re put off by uneven tonal shifts or self-conscious whimsy
Overview
Everyone Says I Love You is one of Woody Allen’s most peculiar gambles: a romantic comedy that keeps breaking into song, then slips back into neurotic conversation and social observation. The result is uneven, but also genuinely distinctive. Its pleasures are less about narrative momentum than about mood, casting, and the way it turns fantasy into a running joke about how people imagine love versus how they actually behave.
Worth noting
The film’s biggest strength is the ensemble. Goldie Hawn, Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Natasha Lyonne, Edward Norton, and the rest give the movie a buoyant, lightly absurd energy that helps smooth over the rough patches. The musical numbers are intentionally unpolished in places, which can be part of the joke, though that also means the film works more as a whimsical experiment than a polished genre piece.
Bottom line
If you’re receptive to Allen’s postcard version of New York, Paris, and Venice, and to a story that treats romance as performance, delusion, and social ritual, this can be a very charming watch. If you need emotional credibility or a conventional musical payoff, it may leave you cold. But as a curious, lightly mischievous late-90s oddity, it has enough wit and sparkle to justify the detour.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Matt Singer (4★) · 471 likes
The most underrated movie Woody Allen ever made? Maybe, including by me, at least until today. I had some hazy memories of seeing this once in college and hating it—mostly because I thought the Woody Allen/Julia Roberts romance was dreadful. And I was right, to a point. But I missed the message of that subplot, which, like the rest of the charmingly fanciful musical (and so much of Allen's work), is about the gap between fantasy and reality. As Roberts’… more The most underrated movie Woody Allen ever made? Maybe, including by me, at least until today. I had some hazy memories of seeing this once in college and hating it—mostly because I thought the Woody Allen/Julia Roberts romance was dreadful. And I was right, to a point. But I missed the message of that subplot, which, like the rest of the charmingly fanciful musical (and so much of Allen's work), is about the gap between fantasy and reality. As Roberts’… more
juls (3.5★) · 468 likes
the son being republican because he had a brain issue and the second it was fixed he was liberal... points were made
Will Sloan · 318 likes
I cracked up near the beginning when Natasha Lyonne was listing off her family members and said "And then there's my dad, who lives in Paris..." and it cuts to Woody walking across the Seine holding a baguette. That's the kind of filmmaker Woody Allen is: if he shows you Paris, he's going to show you a guy crossing the Seine holding a baguette. Allen only wants to see the postcard version of any place — including New York, the city where he's… more I cracked up near the beginning when Natasha Lyonne was listing off her family members and said "And then there's my dad, who lives in Paris..." and it cuts to Woody walking across the Seine holding a baguette. That's the kind of filmmaker Woody Allen is: if he shows you Paris, he's going to show you a guy crossing the Seine holding a baguette. Allen only wants to see the postcard version of any place — including New York, the city where he's… more
Nakul (3.5★) · 232 likes
Woody Allen's only musical, Everyone Says I Love You, is somewhat uneven but funny and charming enough to keep you invested. I just love how many fully realized characters & their relationships he's able to weave into the fabric of this movie. Quite underrated.
Andrew Couch (3.5★) · 218 likes
whenever i see a hot girl dating an ugly guy i always think about woody allen movies
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Topics
romantic comedy, musical, ensemble cast, 90s cinema, New York, Paris, Venice, satire, whimsical, relationship comedy