Review: Melinda and Melinda

Rated PG-13 | 100 mins

IMDB Info

You can say what you want about his more recent fare, but it’s undeniable that Woody Allen is still one of the greatest working filmmakers. Melinda and Melinda will hopefully put an end to the doubt surrounding the veteran writer/director, mainly because it doesn’t exist in the same light-hearted bubble as Anything Else, Hollywood Ending, and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. While I also enjoy those films, there’s no arguing that this is Allen’s best motion picture in the last decade, an exuberantly cinematic piece of work. Its structure, which consists of two interwoven renditions of the same story—one comedic, one tragic—might’ve come across as a completely artificial gimmick in anyone else’s hands, but Allen knows exactly what he is doing. With his vision, Melinda and Melinda never slips into a state that is anything short of genius.

The main reason why Melinda and Melinda is such a wonderful motion picture is that Allen made sure to make both storylines individually interesting and poignant. Rarely do we sense any strings of manipulation being pulled on his behalf. The movie does delve into its own philosophies—and, sure, sometimes pseudo-philosophies—regarding the ideas comedy and tragedy, but its main purpose is to be what every film strives to be: captivating. Helping Allen to make this possible is his wonderful cast, which is headlined by a near-Oscar-worthy Radha Mitchell, playing the title character with incendiary flair. Chiwetel Ejiofor Amanda Peet, Will Ferrell, and Chloë Sevigny are also all at the tops of their games, providing some terrific support. Despite Allen’s confident lead, Melinda and Melinda is a team effort through and through, functioning as a bi-polar representation of everything that’s good about art. It will likely be forgotten and left unseen by the majority of moviegoers, but for those who do see it, it will be one of the year’s most rewarding experiences at the cinema.