One of Woody Allen's old and persistent problems as a director haunts him here - too many characters have his gestures, his timing, his general delivery of lines. It makes me wonder - does he give line readings and act out every part for his actors?
While, as always, he has some of the funniest lines in movies (delivered quite hilariously, especially by Will Ferrel), the story (even within the framework of a make-up story being discussed by a comic writer and a tragic writer) just doesn't sit well in reality. I have the feeling that Woody Allen is so insulated in his New York celebrity that he has lost touch with the majority of people. Instead of being a bi-coastal movie or even a movie made for a Manhattan audience, in Melinda & Melinda, he seems to have produced a picture that is solely for the East side - and the most indulgent east siders at that.
Personally, I'd like to be surrounded by beautiful women, who, crazy and whorish as they may be, are ultimately in love with me. I have nothing against the people in his world - only that it seems to limit him as a film maker.
Finally, and redundantly, I'd much rather see Woody Allen acting out his funniest lines and behaviours rather than giving them to one or more of the characters in his films. Once he's busy being himself, it's easier for other actors to display their own talents.
I wonder why so many actors appear only once in his movies...
While, as always, he has some of the funniest lines in movies (delivered quite hilariously, especially by Will Ferrel), the story (even within the framework of a make-up story being discussed by a comic writer and a tragic writer) just doesn't sit well in reality. I have the feeling that Woody Allen is so insulated in his New York celebrity that he has lost touch with the majority of people. Instead of being a bi-coastal movie or even a movie made for a Manhattan audience, in Melinda & Melinda, he seems to have produced a picture that is solely for the East side - and the most indulgent east siders at that.
Personally, I'd like to be surrounded by beautiful women, who, crazy and whorish as they may be, are ultimately in love with me. I have nothing against the people in his world - only that it seems to limit him as a film maker.
Finally, and redundantly, I'd much rather see Woody Allen acting out his funniest lines and behaviours rather than giving them to one or more of the characters in his films. Once he's busy being himself, it's easier for other actors to display their own talents.
I wonder why so many actors appear only once in his movies...