Melinda and Melinda

Last night we saw the new Woody Allen movie Melinda and Melinda. It was pretty middle of the road for a Woody Allen movie, but was still quite entertaining. The basic premise is that over dinner two playwrights are arguing over whether life is comic or tragic. A friend then relates a series of events and ask each man to interpret the events. From that point on the movie alternates back and forth between one playwright's comic telling of the story and the other playwright's tragic retelling (both stories feature the main character named Melinda - hence Melinda and Melinda).

The highlights of the film for me was the acting of Radha Mitchell and the comic relief of Will Ferrell. Mitchell puts on a great performance alternating between a crazy, neurotic, pill-popping version of Melinda in the tragedy and a more balanced, single neighbor version of Melinda in the comedy. Ferrell takes on the role that Woody Allen clearly must have written for himself, and does a surprisingly good Allen impression. I've never been a huge Will Ferrell fan, but in this film he does an excellent job of providing physical comedy without being too over-the-top.