Allen double-dips his chip in tragedy and comedy.
When you are a 70 year-old filmmaker there isn’t much of a need to prove anything. With 30-plus years of filmmaking and a filmography that is longer than most grocery lists there is bound to be a couple of stinkers in the twilight years of a career. Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda is a curious, nicely shot experiment – shaped in a duel narrative form its offers the usual menu of adultery and adults acting as children.
Botched lives, failed relationships and the pursuit of happiness are the main topics of discussion in this ensemble piece headed by actress Radha Mitchell who takes on the fun task of playing the protagonist to the power of two. Emerging from a heated discussion in a bistro eatery, the Melinda in one story is completely different from the other Melinda in the other. Under different biological constructions, personality traits and environments – the film takes on the dubious task of highlighting the progression of both characters inter-cutting both stories into one paralleled approach.
The more dramatic toned tale with the presence of Chloë Sevigny and Chiwetel Ejiofor is not as enjoyable as the comedic portion of the film with a familiar Allen-rhetoric that allows for the comic genius of a Will Ferrell – who impersonates the personality of the man behind the camera who chooses not to make an appearance in this film. Initially, the template does hold promise – it’s an attractive but not entirely unique device to compare notes and appreciate how fate, different settings, surroundings and personalities change the formula of the character. In the end it comes across as a modest exertion that doesn’t create the aspired synergy that one might hope for.
Melinda and Melinda is a fine diversion tuned with the usual clichés and a Will Ferrell who is the best thing coming out of this palpable twin bill. It’s the sort of effort that will help cleanse the palettes of fans who suffered through the auteur’s last project called Anything Else and which will ultimately help re-launch the debate of whether there is one last classic left in the person who gave us some of the best comedies under the New York skyline.
