Melinda and Melinda (2005)
Amanda Peet, Brooke Smith, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Over a meal in a Chinese restaurant, Sy poses a conundrum to his fellow diners: Is the essence of life comic or tragic? For the sake of argument, he tells a story, which the others then embellish to illustrate their takes on life. The story starts as follows: A young Manhattan couple, Park Avenue pr... (read more) Over a meal in a Chinese restaurant, Sy poses a conundrum to his fellow diners: Is the essence of life comic or tragic? For the sake of argument, he tells a story, which the others then embellish to illustrate their takes on life. The story starts as follows: A young Manhattan couple, Park Avenue princess Laurel and tippling actor Lee, throw a dinner party to impress Lee's would-be producer when their long-lost friend Melinda appears at their front door, bedraggled and woebegone. In the tragic version of what happens next, the beautiful intruder is a disturbed woman who got bored with her midwestern doctor-husband and dumped him for a photographer. Her husband took the children away and she spiraled into a suicidal depression that landed her straight-jacketed in a mental ward. In the comic version, Melinda is childless and a downstairs neighbor to the dinner hosts, who are ambitious indie filmmaker Susan and under-employed actor Hobie. Back and forth the stories go, contrasting the destinies of the two Melinda's.
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PG-13, 1 hr. 39 min.
Directed by:
Woody Allen
Release Date: Mar 18, 2005
DVD Release Date: Oct 25, 2005
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Flixster User Reviews
Interesting concept, I guess. Mitchell and Sevigny are great in it, too. But it felt a bit forced at times. Not Allen's best...
A bit workmanlike for Woody and a bit gimicky, but not a bad film on the whole. While I've never been a huge Will Ferrell fan, he did play the archetypal Woody Allen role beautifully.
Good film with a clever plot structure and narrative style that has fun by playing out two different versions of the same events; the unknown lead actress does a great job, especially with the stressed Melinda in the tragic version
Not usually a fan of Woody Allen but this isn't too bad, tackling a story as a tragedy and a comedy. Will Ferrell's always good and Radha Mitchell's hot. The comedy sections are inevitably the best though.
Ferrell is an inspired choice to pay our Woody surrogate, but that's about all that is inspired here. And the framing device, in which wealthy East Side filmmakers set the stage of what is to come, is just fuckin' awful.
Can this have been anything ... (read more) Ferrell is an inspired choice to pay our Woody surrogate, but that's about all that is inspired here. And the framing device, in which wealthy East Side filmmakers set the stage of what is to come, is just fuckin' awful.
Can this have been anything besides a hollywood satire? I don't care to watch again to find out
God-awful comedy/drama that is neither funny nor dramatic. Its only saving grace is a few fine performances.
The premise of the film was pretty interesting, I thought it was quite clever. The execution of it not so much. It just got really dull in some parts. While other parts were just awesomely good. The cast was great though. Whoever played the main char... (read more) The premise of the film was pretty interesting, I thought it was quite clever. The execution of it not so much. It just got really dull in some parts. While other parts were just awesomely good. The cast was great though. Whoever played the main character Melinda was truly great. Never heard of her before but she did an amazing job playing to completely different characters in the same story.
Critic Reviews
The comic and tragic stories are cleverly intercut, but they're both so inconsequential that it's hard to bring yourself to care which one you're watching.full review
The comic half of the double feature is more wheezy than breezy, and the drama lacks the pulverizing punch of serious art.full review
The real drama here is pretentious Woody trying to catch a ride on funny, formerly saleable Woody.full review
A movie about the symbiosis of the filmmaker and the audience, who are required to conspire in the creation of an imaginary world.full review
Melinda and Melinda is perhaps best thought of as an offering to the memories of Ernst Lubitsch and George S. Kaufman, half-forgotten culture heroes whose examples of crisp sophistication deserve to be kept alive for future generations.full review
Woody Allen does it again: one more unfunny, terrifically out-of-touch comedy set in an almost unrecognizable upper-class New York, pristine and shiny.full review
Woody Allen is back in fighting form with Melinda and Melinda.full review
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