ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies.

IT HAS BEEN a long time coming, but Woody Allen is back on form with Melinda And Melinda. After a string of half-hearted attempts and half-baked ideas, Allen finally delivers a recognisable combination of his trademark wit and worldly wisdom.

The snappy one-liners are matched by some sharp insights into the human condition, and backed by the kind of ensemble cast able to bring out the best in the material.

The story revolves around an examination of whether life is intrinsically comic or tragic. It is the subject of a heated debate among New York intellectuals who decide to settle the matter by using the same story and approaching it as both a tear-stained tragedy and a romantic comedy.

In the tragic version, Melinda (Radha Mitchell) arrives at a dinner party given by some old schoolfriends. She decides to stay and rebuild her shattered life. In the comic version, Melinda (also Radha Mitchell) interrupts a neighbour’s dinner party and is befriended by the couple. The wife (Amanda Peet) plays matchmaker whilst the husband (Will Ferrell) becomes hopelessly smitten by her. As the two stories unfold we learn of all the terrible events in Melinda’s past.

A more thoughtful and substantial piece of work than recent Allen efforts, Melinda And Melinda is amusing but generally quite serious-minded. There are jokes, but there is also a sense of a world in which everyone is frustrated or unhappy which lends the film a weary, weighty maturity. If you’d given up on Woody Allen, then this is the film to make you think again.
 
MELINDA & MELINDA
General release, selected cinemas
Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Radha Mitchell, Will Ferell, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloe Sevigny
Screenwriter: Woody Allen
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 99 mins
Country: USA
Year: 2004
 

© Allan Hunter, 2005