You're either a Woody Allen fan or you aren't. And if you're a Woody Allen fan, you've been disappointed by his last few efforts. Here, he wisely leaves himself out of the acting ensemble (in fact, most of his stock players are absent here, and instead we get the underused and underrated Amanda Peet and the always intriguing Chloe Sevigny), takes an interesting idea (viewing one person's life as a tragedy and as a comedy) and manages to craft his most entertaining film since "Sweet and Lowdown." His dialogue may never be as crisp, witty, and thought-provoking as it was in his heyday, but he still has some clever ideas in him, and "Melinda and Melinda" is his best one in a long while. Here he takes an acting showcase for Radha Mitchell (delightfully light in the comic version, and heartbreakingly heavy in the tragic one) and places it in the center of the typical ensemble piece he has become so accustomed to in his latter days. Will Ferrel is the nicest surprise here. He takes awhile to get used to (like a Robin Williams or a Jim Carey, his larger than life goof ball persona can be distracting in smaller roles), but once you realize he is the character that Woody Allen himself would normally play (you can almost hear a young Woody reciting Will's lines) you'll be treated to a lovely off-kilter performance. In the end, some of the ideas aren't so fully fleshed out, and the comedy isn't as consistently funny as you might like it to be. All in all, however, this is a real treat for Woody Allen fans as long as his recent failures are fresher in your mind than his past masterpieces.
Review of Melinda and Melinda
