Monday 3rd August

Melinda and Melinda

Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2004
Stars: Radha Mitchell, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloe Sevigny, Will Ferrel, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor

This was claimed to be a return to form for Woody Allen - which got me worried. The only one of his films I've really enjoyed is one that most critics hate, and generally I'm not exactly a fan of his most famous, "best" movies. However, having had at least one positive Woody Allen experience, I made the choice to record this one. It then sat not being watched for some time, my trepidation setting in.

It was finally Dan's choice to watch it. Now, it's not a bad film and it does have moments of merit - there were clearly good ideas in the film, and I could see what it was trying to do a lot of time. However, mostly, it just failed.

The film is about whether or not life is more tragic or more comedic. Two directors are sat at a dinner table and given a scenario - one then has to make it comedic, one tragic. What follows is the story each director tells. Neither story works perfectly - and both are very marred by the fact that every character is, in fact, playing Woody Allen. He is EVERYWHERE in this film. I didn't like him as a character much before this film began, so it didn't endear me to the movie much.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5