Melinda and Melinda (2004)
Directed by Woody Allen
While dining out with friends, Sy suggests the difficulty of separating comedy from tragedy. To illustrate his point, he tells his guests two parallel stories about Melinda ; both versions have the same basic elements, but one take on her state of affairs leans toward levity, while the other is full of anguish. Each story involves Melinda coping with a recent divorce through substance abuse while beginning a romantic relationship with a close friend's husband.
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What critics compared Melinda and Melinda to
Of all the recent Allen movies, Vicky Cristina Barcelona most reminds me of Melinda and Melinda , partly because it isn't a "bad" movie (Jade Scorpion and Anything Else inarguably are) so much as a stalwart mediocrity, but moreso because the conceptual point of departure sits flagrantly on the screen, barking out its rudimentary recipe without bringing that recipe to life.
Like most of Allen's best work, Vicky Cristina straddles the line between comedy and drama; the writer-director explored this notion at great and obvious length in Melinda and Melinda , but here is more subtle with a story about real human confusion and anguish over the nature of relationships that just so happens to also make you laugh most of the time.
Sure, Match Point was quite intriguing, and there were the low-key charms of Melinda and Melinda, Cassandra's Dream, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona ... but it will take a pretty long time to wash away the stench of the run that included Anything Else, Hollywood Ending, and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.
Unlike the majority of Woody Allen's recent efforts, the failure of Melinda and Melinda can't be attributed to an outwardly obvious source.
John Cusack was fine in “Bullets Over Broadway,” but the usually outstanding Kenneth Branagh was embarrassing in “Celebrity” and Will Ferrell seemed to be sleepwalking through “Melinda And Melinda.”
From the warm glow of that opening dinner table, we're transported to the shabby chic home of Lee (Jonny Lee Miller, "Trainspotting") and Laurel (Chloë Sevigny, "The Brown Bunny," "Shattered Glass"), an out of work actor and his Park Avenue wife.