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Melinda and Melinda

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Life can make you laugh or cry in the world according to Melinda and Melinda. This is the idea behind Woody Allen's latest film, where experiences are crafted by your mindset. The two versions of Melinda's (Radha Mitchell's) story begin in the same way, with her arriving uninvited to a dinner party. From there they unfold separately and distinctly informed by their dramatic or comedic expression.

In the comedic half the married, struggling actor Hobie (Will Ferrell), is vying for Melinda's attention. The comedy comes from his bumbling attempts to woo her while sorting out his married life. In the dramatic portion Melinda is a mysterious woman with tons of personal baggage who is looking for love and happiness.

The story is uniquely nonlinear. It stops and starts as we go back and forth between the comedic Melinda tale and the more dramatic. You won't get confused because the only overlapping character is Melinda so it is easy to tell the different plots apart on the surface; and of course the tones are very different. Allen's unique structure emphasizes his premise although there are still some humorous flourishes in the dramatic presentation as well. Allen has always had a gift for finding laughter in sorrow or uncomfortable situations.

Radha Mitchell does an excellent job in capturing the melancholy that drives Melinda. Melinda is the type of woman that stops you in her tracks. She is eternally attractive even as she swirls destructively through life like a tornado. Then she sweeps you off your feet as she does with Hobie and Ellis (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Mitchell presents an endearing vulnerability. Her weakness attracts men perhaps in a knight in shining armor display of affection.

Some people will say that Will Ferrell is channeling Woody Allen as Hobie, but I didn't find Ferrell's character as educated as those that Woody plays, more of the familiar loveable goofball that we are accustomed to seeing the actor as. Hobie is a failure as an out of work actor and in an unloving relationship with his wife, so the longing for love and excitement is reminiscent of Woody's past screen personas. The funniest moments absolutely come with Hobie attempting to win Melinda over in all his awkwardness. Ferrell as usual adds comedy and was with out a doubt my favorite part of the movie.

I missed seeing Woody Allen in the film. Even though his words are spoken through his actors I would have liked to see him. Perhaps he is waiting to create a more suitable acting role because it becomes uncomfortable watching a seventy year old man hitting on younger women.

Allen's story experiment was successful but his strength lies in comedy and quirky musings

on life which the film limited by going dramatic. The lesson of Melinda and Melinda seems to be life is what you make it. Comedic and dramatic moments intersperse and moods differ accordingly.

Movie Grade: B

About the Movie
Melinda and Melinda combines romantic comedy and drama in a way that Woody Allen, unique among filmmakers, likes to contrast. It takes place in Manhattan and chronicles a pair of crises that give great reign to the funny and serious talents of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Ferrell, Jonny Lee Miller, Radha Mitchell, Amanda Peet, Chloë Sevigny and Wallace Shawn. All the usual Allen areas are explained – the fragility of love, marital infidelity, sophisticated romance, the inability to communicate. As a character in the movie puts it, “He’s despondent, he’s desperate, he’s suicidal. All the comic elements are in place.”