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Melinda And Melinda [2004]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

In Melinda and Melinda, Will Ferrell does a fine job playing Woody Allen--or at any rate, playing the fumbling, neurotic, lascivious character who appears in almost every Woody Allen movie (and is usually played by Allen himself). Hobie (Ferrell) is an unemployed actor who has fallen helplessly in love with Melinda (Radha Mitchell)--or at least with one version of Melinda, because Hobie's comic story runs parallel with a more serious version of the same plot, in which Melinda falls in love with a composer (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Melinda and Melinda is intended to be a sort of showdown between a comic and a tragic view of the world, but the comic story isn't all that funny and the tragic story isn't all that sad. You're more likely to feel annoyed by these characters than sympathetic to them, as they act more like Martians than New Yorkers; their responses and attitudes aren't exactly dated or implausible, they're mostly incomprehensible. The movie is still a step up from Anything Else, Allen's last effort; there are a handful of genuinely funny moments, Chloe Sevigny (as one of Melinda's best friends) and Mitchell are particularly good, and the turns of the two-fold plot--regardless of its genre--are engaging. However, these virtues will be best appreciated by those who are already Allen fans. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com


"I love watching a live creature being pulled out of somebodys body at 3:30 in the morning. If that happens again, please call."
Review date: 2007-12-22 Rating: 8 out of 10

Whilst many have felt that this film isn't as edgy as other Woody Allen films, the characters still display his trademark style of being analytical and neurotic.

The characters are the result of a dinner table discussion between four writers, two of which are arguing the case for life being conveyed as a comedy or a tragedy. One of the writers gives the example a woman bursting into a house during a dinner party, the arguing pair then develop their own versions of the story using their own spin.

At first this seems to be a story about femininity and masculinity - with the 'comedy' scenario having a husband who seems to have the traditional wife role in a cold relationship, and the 'tragedy' scenario having a loving wife who is being cheated on.

Before long everyone is having an affair!

Anyway, the title of the film comes from the central character of Melinda (the woman who interrupts the dinner party) - and from that moment on the two versions of the story take on a very different path. The two stories borrow themes and lines from each other, but apply them to different characters. This means you kind of know what is going to be said or happen - but not whom it will happen to.

The film is full of middle class people who measure life in terms of status symbols, the only real genuine characters are Melinda, and Hobie played by Will Ferrell. Hobie has by far the most comedic parts of the film, he is the most 'Woody Allen-ish' and once the film gets into full flow he steals the show.

It is perfectly acted and the script is razor sharp. The domination by middle-class socialites taints any realism - but thankfully this is reeled back in by Hobie and Melinda, who as I have already mentioned, are the only characters you really relate to.

In a nutshell - this is a romantic comedy for those who normally wouldn't go for that sort of thing. The comedy/tragedy debate is a fun thing to think about, and some scenes will have you laughing out loud. A clever film which starts distanced - but ends endearingly. Two films in one!


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Reviews


not his best work, not his worst
Review date: 2007-11-04 Rating: 6 out of 10

A group of arty people sit at a table and turn a real life incident into two stories: one story is a comedy and the other a tragedy with a different set of actors and a different Melinda in each story. This being a Woody Allen film the net effect throughout the movie is a mixture of the comic and tragic,for us the viewers.Not as funny as other Woody Allen efforts such as Mighty Aphrodite, heaps of dailogue as usual,sharp and cynical observations of peoples thought processes and conversations,
and plenty of beautiful women.I gave it three stars despite watching it three times in a row.But that was just because I didn't have anything else to do!

Not one of Woody's best, but still pretty good for fans
Review date: 2007-06-29 Rating: 6 out of 10

Hello, Woody fans. You know the score: the familiar white font on a black background, some light jazz, and we're off into one of Woody Allen's more recent explorations of the lives of Manhattan intellectual types. The conceit for this one is that it tells the story of shambolic misfit Melinda from two different perspectives - tragic and comic, just like those masks - as she flits around New York and everyone tries to fix her up with a dentist.

There's quite a bit of fun to be had with this one as you watch Woody flip the story back and forth, with Melinda being dreary and neurotic on one side and likable and perky on the other, but there is a problem with this fifty/fifty gimmick. As has always been the case, Allen just isn't as good at drama as he is at comedy, so you find yourself waiting for the film to go back to the funny stuff, where you can see Will Ferrell becoming the latest in the increasingly long line of Woody stand-ins.

So, this one works out to be about half good and half just okay, which I would say gives us a total entertainment factor of, let's say, seventy-five percent. That's not too bad. Radha Mitchell is pretty good as Melinda, even if her accent keeps slipping in the serious side of the story, and I enjoyed the echoes of the earlier, much better Woody film Crimes & Misdemeanors (including a double reprise of sorts of the line "I've gone out the window"). Melinda & Melinda might not be up there with his best work, but it's got its fair share of humour and insight, so Woody fans would do well to give this a go.

Below average by anyone's standards
Review date: 2006-05-22 Rating: 4 out of 10

A few years ago, Woody Allen criticized directors who spend two or three years between making pictures only for many critics to respond that with the quality of his recent output, maybe he ought to spend more time honing his own material. They have a point. Certainly of late it's too often felt that he's a disinterested businessman fulfilling a deal that'll keep him ticking over until something better comes along. Case in point, Melinda and Melinda, an unfortunate misfire that, like much of The Mighty Aphrodite, feels like Woody Allen has taken a premise and just thrown one-liners at it in the hope that some of them will stick rather than properly fleshing it out. Unfortunately, in the mouths of a rather second-rate cast of (mostly) underachievers who never really gel with each other despite (mostly) giving technically competent but unengaging performances, both the dramatic and comic interpretations of Miranda's story feel stale and tedious - and surprisingly badly written. Maybe the two rival playwrights are meant to be palpably bad writers, but even that doesn't excuse the clumsiness of Allen's exposition and characterization here.

Sadly there's no single great performance to pull the film together. Radha Mitchell tries but, while her comic face is sporadically engaging, never really catches fire, with her dramatic scenes feeling too premeditated and overly prepared. Chloe Sevigny, Amanda Peet and Chiwetel Ejiofor are the more successful of the supporting players, but most, like Jonny Lee Miller, simply feel like they're third or fourth choice actors reciting awkward lines in a bad play rather than flesh and blood people. And it's getting genuinely tiresome to see his leading men doing Woody Allen impersonations instead of giving a performance (here a weak Will Ferrell). Worse, the film feels incomplete, as if a third interpretation, mixing tragedy and comedy to show how it should be done, is missing. Instead, we're left with a hole waiting to be filled while a disinterested group of thespians watch from the sidelines while waiting for a bus.

As usual per Allen, there are no extras at all on the disc - not even a trailer.

Below par Woody Allen
Review date: 2006-03-04 Rating: 6 out of 10

Looking back at the catalogue of Woody Allen accomplishments it's easy to see some easily recognisable themes, notably meditations on the meaning of life. One of these is asking the question "is life absurd (you know - funny and crazy and laughable because it's so ungraspable that all we can do is laugh) or is it basically a tragedy (a terrible existence of pain an misery and despair, uselessness, disenfranchisement and suffering)?" Of course, the philosophers have been out discussing that one for a long time, but whilst that's going on, Allen has taken it upon himself to re-examine the issue on his own, by means of this film.
To this end, he hires a cast of familiar actors. Some of them are his own friends from as far back as Manhattan and Husbands and Wives, and some are actors from things like Silence of the Lambs and even Trainspotting. Allen traditionally recruits from either a familiar crowd or an under-rated minority of otherwise successful films.
Although the film's task is admirable, this one marks a low-point in Allen's distinguished career. He doesn't pull out the stops and some scenes are overtly badly acted out - an indictment of direction rather than the cast.
Will Farrell does a good job of acting out the neurotic Woody Allen as we've seen him in other, earlier films, but this alone doesn't and cannot rescue what turns out in essence to be a mediocre exploration of an interesting debate about the meaning and nature of life itself. On that level, it's disappointing.
There are some warm and comedic moments in the film, and so overall it is worth watching, but only just, especially if you're interested in the output of Woody Allen's career. Just don't expect too much.
I think the film could have been done better with a little more dedication and willingness, but the Allen star is acending once more with more recent output than this, and so I'll forgive him just this once.
This film is not a masterpiece, but worth watching if you're really up for it, hence the 3 stars.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Radha Mitchell
Will Ferrell
Jonny Lee Miller
Amanda Peet

Creators:
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Primary Contributor)
Will Ferrell (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036021258
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2005-07-25
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 95 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2004
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: English (Original Language)

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