The writer/director’s biggest success of the 1980s took a melancholy yet surprisingly upbeat and even joyful look at love via the familial and romantic ties of three NYC sisters; it won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and for Best Supporting Actor and Actress (Michael Caine and Dianne Wiest). Amidst rapturous critical acclaim, Kael pumped the brakes: “It’s likable…[Allen has] made the picture halfway human…[but] the wilted sterility of his style is terrifying to think about.”