september be what i call a real estate movie and because what happen isn not nearly as interesting a where it all happen . in this case and the real estate be a cozy country cottage in vermont and a warm and cheerfully decorate little place far from the city . the shade be always close and but warm and golden and late summer sunlight filter through and suggest that it would be a wonderful place to either visit or and good still and to grow old in . it look so real and richly detail that it be hard to believe that it be a set and built for the movie in some new york film studio . the creepy thing about woody allen september be that this totally make believe house be more realistic than the character who gather inside . september be another of woody beautifully detailed and sensitively write and lovingly act and utterly annoy serious film . there be a smattering of not particularly funny bit of humor and design to suggest that the character be clever people and but once again the main trait share by all be indecisiveness and depression and a gift for long winded bout of self pity . the six main character who spend the weekend in this country home spend a lot of time talk about their feeling and though one have a hard time believe that any of them actually have real feeling . instead everyone seem to be do psychotherapy exercise design to help them self consciously get in touch with themselves . the end result of this achingly insincere sincerity be an intense desire by the viewer to want to give each and every cast member a sincere slap across the face . during their year together and allen give to his partner mia farrow some of the best role of her career as well a some of her bad . this may be the bad while certainly it allow her to indulge in her unfortunate tendency to whine and blubber in despair . the most intriguing aspect of september be that it be inspire by a bit of hollywood legend and the death of lana turner gangster boyfriend at the hand of her teenage daughter . allen take that infamous scandal and use it a the seed for this film drama . farrow play lane and who be still live down the notoriety of have kill her celebrity mother abusive boyfriend and who be now recuperate from her most recent suicide attempt . the feeling of guilt and shame and animosity and bitterness and envy share between lane and her mother and diane ( play by elaine stritch ) and would seem to be sufficient to sustain an interesting drama . but allen use the dirty little secret behind the old scandal a a minor plot twist and and instead focus most of the film on a trite four side love triangle and in which passion be secondary to unrelenting discussion about each character unrequited passion . howard ( denholm elliott ) love lane and who love peter ( sam waterston ) and who have a thing for stephanie ( diane wiest ) and who be marry but return peter feeling even though she know that she be betray lane and blah and blah and blah . it all seem so high school and especially since they all talk about this and but be paralyze to act on those feeling . meanwhile diane love only diane and even though she be partner with lloyd ( jack warden ) and a melancholy physicist who be depress over how utterly meaningless existence be . the problem isn not so much the trite plotting a it be the overall and overwhelm tone of the drama . woody walk this path before ( six character in a country house ) in a midsummer night sex comedy and but do so with a sense of whimsy and an unexpected show of hopeful romance . in september and the character all talk with that hush and sterile and halt formality that allen ape from pretentious european art film . everyone seem dub and disconnect from both their feeling and their dialogue . they might as well be discuss their income tax return and though that would probably inspire much more enthusiasm . such pregnant disconnection from emotion all but guarantee audience indifference and certainly be wrong for a story delve into the life of an emotionally disturbed woman . a for the house itself and the set design and the lighting and the cinematography conspire to make this make believe slice of rural eden so invitingly charm that it all but betray the notion that the little house be mean to represent a prison or an asylum and if you prefer . it come to represent the past lane want to shed and the past diane want to recapture . it be a battlefield to reclaim the honesty of their share past . to the audience and no matter how flimsy the wall and it be the single thing in the entire film that offer warmth and comfort and promise . and it be an illusion . which may have be allen point from the start .