MELINDA AND MELINDA

LOOK, I’M WOODY. HOWDY, HOWDY, HOWDY.

Starring Radha Mitchell

Trailer

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Moving successfully into the field of extreme punishment, chief whip Woody here produces two rubbish films at once in order to doubly waste everyone’s time. The inherent problems are exactly the same as every other lump he’s made in the last eight years, so let’s focus on the positives: Radha Mitchell. Somehow rising wraithlike above the maelstrom of awful she’s signed on for, she delivers both a touching, pitiful performance as the otherwise-punchable ‘tragic’ Melinda whilst simultaneously emitting sweetness and light from her eyelids as the ‘comic’ turn. In a way she’s too successful; by making the characters of Melinda and Melinda so utterly different and complete she destroys the central conceit of the film, that ONE person’s life can utterly change when seen as comedy or tragedy. Allen’s writing of a completely different story for each doesn’t necessarily require the same actress to play both parts, making the idea a gimmick, but nevertheless a gimmick that steals the whole film. At this point he’s being beaten by his actors, his casting agents, his own ideas and his own glaring lack of competency at anything. It’s almost a comedy. And the fact that Mitchell’s had bugger-all work since this nightmare-tandem? That’d be the tragedy.