The Unseen Movie Review

Melinda and Melinda

There was once a time when a new Woody Allen film was a cause for celebration – especially if it were a new relationship comedy, as this film is. But his last really decent outing was back in 1999 with Sweet and Lowdown, since when he’s directed six movies, all of which were more or less massive flops – both critically and commercially. For those who have never seen Allen’s many masterpieces of the 70s and 80s, judging by his recent output it must be very hard to see what all the fuss is about. Even for his fans, a new Woody Allen film has, over the last few years, become not a cause for celebration but dismay. His former talent seemed utterly to have deserted him.

This, however, is finally that longed-for return to form. It’s no Allen classic, certainly, and will never earn a place up there with the likes of Sleeper, Annie Hall and Manhattan in the hall of fame, but nonetheless it is both far better than any of his last few films and genuinely funny and intriguing in its own right.

The Melindas of the title are actually just one person, played by Finding Neverland’s Radha Mitchell, and she’s entirely fictional – dreamed up thanks to a discussion of the relative merits of comedy and tragedy. As such this film is made up of two alternative storylines weaving in and out of each other, one comedic, one fairly straight tragic drama, with only their starting point, a New York dinner party, and Melinda herself in common. If it sounds similar to 1998’s Gwynneth Paltrow vehicle Sliding Doors, that’s because it is – Allen even uses the same device of using different hairstyles on the central actress to distinguish between the two plotlines.

But despite appearances, and despite the fact that Allen’s recent films largely seem to have been exercises in self-plagiarism, this is not a movie of mere derivativeness, but is actually an interesting and often amusing exploration of the age-old concerns at the heart of theatre.

Some of the problems of Allen’s recent outings remain, however. Now that he is getting on a bit (he will hit seventy this year), Allen tends to remain behind the camera, whereas he always used to take prominent lead roles – all of which were somehow pretty much the same character. Here some of the impressive ensemble cast, which includes Will Ferrell, Chlöe Sevigny and Johnny Lee Miller, make the mistake of previous recent Allen stars, notably Kenneth Branagh in 1998’s Celebrity, and seem to start trying to imitate both Allen’s delivery and mannerisms. This, sadly, often gets in the way of the twin plots, as it’s nearly impossible not to start comparing the imitations with the real thing.

Nonetheless, both storylines are sufficiently well-realised and convoluted to draw the audience in to their worlds of fiction-within-fiction, and Allen’s trademarks of sharp wit and uncanny insight into human nature are present in their droves. Sevigny and Mitchell are both on superb form, and the increasingly popular Ferrell – despite the occasional uncomfortable feelings that his character should be a foot shorter, much thinner, more Jewish and wearing glasses – continues to prove that his comic timing and slapstick skills could help him go far. As already mentioned, it’s not a Woody Allen classic; it is, however, exactly the kind of intelligent and funny film we always used to expect from the master of neurosis, and well worth a look.

posted by Nosemonkey @ 12:00 AM