Movie Review

Melinda and Melinda

Melinda & Melinda has been buzzed as Woody Allen?s comeback. And judging from the audience reception at this screening, it is very questionable whether it will be. Now, I will admit that I?m not a big fan of Woody Allen. I enjoyed Annie Hall, and I kind of liked Manhattan, but his sense of humor isn?t always fit for me, and I haven?t been wooed over by many of his other movies. But Melinda & Melinda suffers from a big problem: it was okay that I didn?t find it funny, but barely any character here has enough substance for you to care.

Woody Allen isn?t in the film, but he has written a part somewhat in the league as Diane Keaton?s role as Annie Hall, for Radha Mitchell (who plays Melinda). And what?s intriguing is that you can even see other actors trying to be Woody Allen. The critical mistake Allen makes, even though he does a good job of creating a complicated female part (which is rare in films), is that he has injected Melinda with so much venom that there is not much to like in her.

The film opens up in a restaurant in New York City. We are then guided to a table where two men and a woman are sitting, and they are talking about the emotions of life and how our range of feelings helps us grow. It is also evident that they love to tell stories, and they love to change pieces of a story in mid-flight to see what would happen in another circumstance.

In their story, a neurotic woman named Melinda makes a surprise visit to a dinner party that some old acquaintances are hosting. They invite her in, though feel obligated to, and they sense her abnormal pain. Laurel (Chloe Sevigny), who is a former friend of hers, takes Melinda into another room and allows her to vent on why she is there. Melinda says that her love life is doomed and she has no idea where her life is going anymore. Meanwhile, the folks in the other room reveal that Melinda has always been a basket case ? a real weirdo.

The women at the party take Melinda back into their lives to help straighten her out, but it?s not easy, as she acts like she?s living in a hellhole where nothing can get better. Melinda needs to get back into the social scene but she?s intimidated to do anything in that regard ? she just wants to dump all of her emotional baggage on a guy right away instead of waiting.

The title, Melinda & Melinda, comes from two variations of the story that the three intellectuals in the restaurant think up; they change her character at one point, and we are supposed to see two sides of her. Melinda & Melinda is a fabricated story from these minds: they claim to know all the answers in what makes a great story (the combination of comedy and tragedy and how tragedy can even be humorous), and what they come up with is awfully boring.

The opening segment in the apartment runs at an uncomfortably long length. The people at the party are in their own world and they like to talk in rich vocabulary. What are they really talking about is a good question, as we feel alienated. There is personal talk that means nothing to us and we?re left wondering when we?re going to be included. And when Melinda barges in, we do indeed feel obligated to let her into our lives; and when she elaborates on why her life sucks so much, we are left asking why we?re supposed to care.

That is what this entire film was like for me ? listening to a lot of dialogue that meant nothing personally. Characters will offer their wisdom about various things, but there isn?t anything that these characters do to win our support. It is easy to think that the women who accept Melinda are nice and brave, as many people would probably feel hesitant to help her, but that?s the only sympathetic factor they are given. Characters also randomly come into the story and they?re not developed, as they are just there for us to watch and listen to.

I only saw one side of Melinda and she was a nightmare. Diane Keaton?s neurotic Annie Hall had ticks but Keaton was charismatic. There were also jokes that revolved around her character that made it possible to connect with her. The problem with Melinda is that she is so sour most of the time and there is barely any comic relief surrounding her personality. These ?talents? in the restaurant seem to believe that the tragedy of her life is amusing, which is just mind boggling (I?m also confused as to what they consider tragedy, as I didn?t catch anything tragic). And there were even long periods of time at this screening when the audience was dead silent ? was this trying to be an intimate drama or were the situations just so brutally unfunny?

There are some one-liners, but I was surprised by how few of them there are. Instead, Allen is intent on showing these characters in-depth, except he doesn?t allow us to be their friends. Characters talk with this level of sophistication like they?re from another social agenda, and we are supposed to be attracted to that quality. Smart characters can be appealing ? when people know what they?re talking about, we tend to be interested. But when the dialogue gets to be really showy, it can be very boring, and it can lack an emotional punch.

The film reminded me of Whit Stillman?s Metropolitan (C+), which involved preppy college kids dissecting socialism for the entire duration. I liked Stillman?s The Last Days of Disco (B) even though its story structure was similar in comparison. But that story was something I could relate to, and it didn?t seem like the characters were reading out of college textbooks; it was about finding love and living life in a good mood, more or less.

Seeing Melinda & Melinda was like being in a room where a few really annoying people just will not shut up, and something is restricting you from leaving. I realize that not everyone is happy in life, and some women could be as gloomy as Melinda, but characters like her make for as fascinating a character study as my life on a Monday night. Woody Allen started off with an intriguing idea, but he fails to offer the emotional experience that he promises to deliver.

Lee's Grade: C+

A	0.4%
B	30.0%
C	61.7%
D	8.0%
F	0.0%