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Melinda and Melinda (2005, Woody Allen, USA)

64 out of 100 what the numbers mean

There was a time when the name Woody Allen was synonymous with art cinema and intellectual comedy (some of the best comedies ever created in fact), but then came Soon Yi Previn and all those ugly accusations od child abuse (which I hereby announce I do not believe - although dating your girlfriend's adopted daughter is a bit on the skeevy side).   But now, the name Woody Allen garners more giggles, guffaws and/or gasps than serious talk of the artistic aspirations of cinema.   Of course when you go from making Annie Hall 1n 1977 to making Curse of the Jade Scorpion in 2001, your social standings are bound to head downhill pretty damned fast. With a long line of mediocre films, at least by the Woody-standard of perfectionism (Everyone Says I Love You, Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown) and even some downright bad films, by Woody-standards (Small Time Crooks, Hollywood Ending, Anything Else and the aforementioned Curse of the Jade Scorpion), have definately stunted the once great career of the New York King of Auteurs.   But wait, what's that I hear on the horizon ?   Is it the reforming of Woody Allen's greatness ?   Okay, maybe not, but at least it seems to be going back in the right direction. The story of a pair of dueling playwrights discussing the polar opposites of comedy vs. drama, who take on the task of giving the same basic story two different spins - one funny and one tragic.   The story of Melinda, played with a voracious appetite by Radha Mitchell, is interwoven between the comic and the tragic.   The tragic shows a desperate Melinda showing up on the downtown loft doorstep of old friends Lee and Laurel (a staid Jonny Lee Miller and a surprisingly preppy Chloe Sevigny).   The comic side has Melinda showing up at the door of her upper east side neighbours, Hobie and Susan (a hilariously Woodyesque Will Ferrell and a completely wasted Amanda Peet).   The story goes from there, back and forth between the two stories. Each tale has its ups (Ferrell and Sevigny) and downs (Miller and Peet), but each tale has the alluring good fortune of Radha Mitchell (who hasn't been this good since hopping into bed with Ally Sheedy in High Art back in 1998).   I suppose the idea was to have Woody do Bergman (as interpreted by Woody) in the tragic and Woody do Woody (as interpreted by Woody) in the comic. It seems to work though, at least on the surface - a place where Mr. Allen has created some of the best quips du intelligensia in modern cinema.   And who would have thought Will Ferrell could be this funny for this long without having to strip down to a pair of frighteningly tiny bikini briefs. Maybe not Manhattan, but it looks like Woody may finally be scratching his way back to his Auteur days.   Let's see what he does with Match Point, set to debut at this year's Cannes Film Festival. * * At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Match Point was heralded as Allen's best film since Crimes & Misdemeanors - April 17, 2005

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