MELINDA AND MELINDA
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
In MELINDA AND MELINDA, two writers are arguing over dinner about whether comedy or tragedy is more important. Or, as they put it, is the world more tragic or comic? (This is an unsolvable battle that the voters in the Motion Picture Academy have long since, and incorrectly, resolved in favor of tragedy, but I digress.) As written and directed by Woody Allen, MELINDA AND MELINDA is another one of his delightful trifles to be savored for its delicious dialog and its compelling characters, all of which are as smoothly enjoyable as the film's simple jazz scoring.
Where else but in Woody Allen film can a character say things as ridiculous as, "I'm running out of obsequious banter," or "Melinda had a reputation for being post-modern in bed," and somehow seem not only plausible but downright poetic?
In order to refine their arguments, these writers, played by Wallace Shawn and Larry Pine, start concocting parallel tales aloud with the same lead character, that of a woman named Melinda (Radha Mitchell). The movie cuts between the two stories. In one, Melinda barges in on a couple played by Will Ferrell and Amada Peet, and in the other she shows up unexpected at the apartment of a couple played by Jonny Lee Miller and Chloë Sevigny.
Although there are plots and subplots aplenty, the surprising thing is that it is usually hard to tell whether the movie is in its comedic part or its dramatic section. Only the appearance of Ferrell in a scene serves to remind us that this is the tragic comedy part rather than the comedic tragedy section. MELINDA AND MELINDA is like a single date with a beautiful girl from out-of-town in which not much happens, but you had a good time anyway.
MELINDA AND MELINDA runs 1:40. It is rated PG-13 for "adult situations involving sexuality, and some substance material" and would be acceptable for kids around 12 and up.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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