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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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
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.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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!
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!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Is life essentially comic or tragic? And can neurotic New Yorkers ever find love? Woody Allen writes and directs an inventive new take on his classic themes in Melinda and Melinda.
The film follows the fortunes of troubled thirtysomething Melinda (Radha Mitchell) along with friends and lovers played by a top notch ensemble cast including Will Ferrell, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chloe Sevigny and Amanda Peet. A series of Manhattan apartments and dinner parties provide a familiar setting, but Melinda and Melinda surprises and delights by being two films in one.
As the film opens, four theatrical friends are debating whether comedy or tragedy is a better reflection of life over dinner. As they discuss an anecdote about a woman showing up unexpectedly at a dinner party, the film begins telling a story of two Melindas, with the dinner party sequence first interpreted tragically and next as a comedy, and then alternating between the parallel worlds.
Allen keeps his two storylines separate by having two casts, united only by Radha Mitchell (Phone Booth, Man on Fire) who turns in an engrossing performance as the two Melindas. Her Tragic Melinda is nervous and brittle, like an accident waiting to happen, while she lends Comic Melinda an engaging warmth and vulnerability.
As always, Allen has also recruited some formidable supporting talents, including British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things) as Ellis, a passionate musician who becomes Tragic Melinda's boyfriend, and Chloe Sevigny (Dogville) as the quietly desperate Laurel who threatens to come between them. But the biggest round of applause goes to Will Ferrell (Anchorman, Elf) who shines as the film's most 'Woody Allen-esque' character, Hobie, an actor with a history of playing roles with a limp and, latterly, providing the voice of a toothpaste, who falls for Comic Melinda. Fans lamenting the lack of the man himself in this film will find his shoes ably filled by Ferrell, who gets all the best one-liners as he struggles with his apparently unrequited love.
In the end, Melinda and Melinda seems to suggest that where tragedy strikes, comedy is following not far behind. As one of the dining friends comments, "he's despondent, he's desperate, he's suicidal. All the comic elements are in place."
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Woody and Woody!
Or Woody vs. Woody?
The either/or proposition, in which there is no middle ground, is usually considered a fallacy, but Woody Allen, like many of today's major political... Read more
The either/or proposition, in which there is no middle ground, is usually considered a fallacy, but Woody Allen, like many of today's major political... Read more
Published 8 months ago by F. S. L'hoir
Great fun
Just seen it. Let me tip the balance - great fun; quality Allen. Watch it :-)
Published 14 months ago by Rolando
Even just 'good' Allen is better than most
An interesting experiment: telling the same story, intercut, in both comic and serious versions. Lots of striking moments, and some good acting (although Will Ferrell - as much as... Read more
Published 23 months ago by K. Gordon
not his best work, not his worst
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Published on 4 Nov 2007 by dan the fan
Below average by anyone's standards
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,... Read more
Published on 22 May 2006 by Trevor Willsmer
One girl … two plots … great movie
Two screenwriters are invited to suggest alternative tragic and comic plots starting with the simple scenario of a girl crashing into a dinner party. Read more
Published on 13 Jan 2006 by pointone
Pretty Poor
Maybe it's just that Woody Allen has produced so many great films that this one looks so dire in comparison - but by any standard this was complete rubbish. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2006 by Donaldo
It delivers :)
Is the essence of life comic or tragic? Can the same events give birth to a comedy or a tragedy, depending on the point of view? Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2005 by M. B. Alcat
Dreadful
One of the worst films I have ever seen. I'm not exaggerating. I had such high hopes after reading the plot details, but what I wasted two hours of my life watching was a... Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2005
A film of two stories that fit like a glove
I had never seen a Woody Allen film before, I think I had sheltered myself from the "unknown". I came out from under my rock to grab the latest release and I was hooked! Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2005
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