wondering when he'd make his Next Great Film. Even more
disagreement surrounds what his actual last masterpiece was. For
me, it was "Deconstructing Harry." Some choose "Sweet and
Lowdown." Others go as far back as "Bullets Over Broadway,"
"Mighty Aphrodite," or even "Husbands and Wives."
Well, folks, the wait is over.
"Melinda and Melinda" may not rank up there with his classic
comedies of the '70s and '80s, but it's nonetheless a witty,
well-acted, well-crafted, and beautifully filmed slice of unmistakable
Allen. In other words, it's his Next Great Film.
It involves a broken-at-all-ends woman named Melinda (the
illuminating Radha Mitchell), who interrupts two different dinner
parties. We follow both stories, each with its own set of characters,
save Melinda, as they alternate between comedic and dramatic
fates. The dramatic story stars Chloe Sevigny and Johnny Lee
Miller as a married couple who take Melinda in just as their own
relationship is crumbling. The comedic story finds another
unhappily wed pair, this time Will Ferrell and Amanda Peet, to whom
Melinda makes a more unassuming intrusion.
The picture belongs, first and foremost, to Mitchell (an actress I
really haven't liked that much in the past), as she fluctuates
between melancholy and vivaciousness with slow-burning ease. Her
paths follow opposite trajectories -- the dramatic tale heading
darkly south as the romantic one ends on a curt high note -- and
you never lose sight of which track she's on.
To the film's credit, Allen has surrounded her with a cast that gels
together better than many of his recent repertoires have. Ferrell
gets the familiar Woody one-liners and a few hilarious physical
comedy bits, Sevigny does repressed great as always, Chiwetel
Ejiofor scores strongly as a possible Melinda paramour, and Vinessa
Shaw nails her handful of scenes as a lusty Republican.
The point of both stories -- and the movie as a whole -- is that it's
impossible to separate life's downturns from its upticks; we
experience an essential balance of highs and lows that are
irrevocably intertwined and inescapable. Under Allen's guiding
hand, and with his stellar cast of players, the audience goes on the
same emotional ride as his identical pair of protagonists.
Engaging characters? Developed story arcs? Genuine laughs and
genuine moments of despair? That's something that we haven't
seen in a Woody Allen picture in quite some time.
