Interesting but not the best

Canhenha

I saw "Melinda and Melinda" recently and I think the title that I posted states the feeling that I had from watching it: it's an accomplished and well done film, but it doesn't add much to the work of Woody Allen. I've been a fan of Woddy Allen since my teens and unlike many comments that I've read that states he hasn't done a good film since "Crimes and Misdemeanors", in 1989, I believe that from his latest output the weakest has been "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion". The 90's saw an incredible amount of masterpieces by the master - "Alice", "Husbands and Wives", "Everyone says I love You", "Deconstructing Harry", and even those not mentioned (like "Shadows and Fog", "Bullets over Broadway", "Mighty Aphrodite", "Celebrity", "Sweet and Lowdon"), were all accomplished works that stand in his body of work. "Melinda and Melinda" ends up being a return to all the themes that Woody Allen has focused on his work: the difficulty of relationships, how tragic and comic sides of life can happen simultaneously, but in this case he takes them in two separate lines (at times it feels like watching "September" and "Everyone ..." simultaneously). The film ends up recycling some situations that Allen has previously probed with a lot more meaning, but you can't help smiling and enjoying this film. The actors, particularly Radha Mitchel excel in their roles. This proves that the universe of the director isn't worn out - he's just finding new ways of presenting it, and even though you may feel this one isn't the peak, it shows that the path is leading up to it.

score 7/10

Canhenha 2 March 2005

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1031535/