Director: Woody Allen Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Parker Posey, Emma Stone Writer: Woody Allen | 3.5/5 Irrational Man Nearing his eightieth year, Woody Allen is one of the most, if not THE most, prolific commercial filmmaker of this age. Since 1982, Allen has released a new film every single year, sometimes producing two films. How does he keep up with such a constant stream of ideas? Many of his critics would say he has long stopped coming up with new ideas and now simply recycles all of his old themes. Yes, there are holdover themes and character types in all his films, but all artists have signature themes that ease their way into all of their work. Allen is no different. Allen recently referred to himself as “lazy.” From an outside spectator, though, you would never know it. His latest, Irrational Man, features Allen’s signature tortured intellectual male character, as well as his much younger female muse - you really should work on changing that, pal. Here, that tortured male is Joaquin Phoenix’s Abe, the new philosophy teacher at a college who has all the students and faculty members in an awed haze. No student is more stricken by Abe’s tortured genius than Jill, played by the reliably great Emma Stone. Making the love affair a triangle of sorts is Parker Posey’s Rita, a science professor similarly struck by Abe’s ongoing existential crisis. When I say “affair,” I mean it. Both Rita and Jill already have relationships with other men, one of them being married. |
Things get even more fishy when we find out that Abe, at first, is not really stimulated by either of them. He is so deep in his depression that feigned interest and impotence are the least of his problems. One scene finds Abe jumping to play Russian roulette without batting an eye. One random day in one random cafe, Abe overhears a conversation that will give him meaning. Eavesdropping, he hears of a woman’s custody troubles and the judge who is unfairly ruling against her. Moved by this woman’s troubles, Abe is struck by waves of purpose and life. He has a new mission: kill the judge.
The way he sees it, it’s the perfect murder. A complete stranger to both the woman in need and the crooked judge, no one would suspect Abe’s involvement. What’s fascinating about Irrational Man is not the plotting of the crime, which welcomely borrows some Hitchcock-ian tropes, especially near the end, but the way in which Abe’s two love interests react when they find out what he has gotten himself into. To keep from spilling too many secrets, I won’t go into it any deeper.
It helps that Allen writes Jill and Rita as three-dimensional characters who do more than fawn over the deep, male hero. Rita, especially, will move you as the story reaches its climax. Casting made the right choice when choosing Posey, an actress criminally underused in modern movies. Irrational Man proves that she is just as good, if not better, than all of the young starlets dominating the industry today.
As you may have heard, the film is not perfect. It takes longer than it should to really get started, and Abe’s depressive bloviating can get tiresome. Thankfully, Phoenix is such an interesting actor that he overcomes Abe’s moaning and makes him actually pretty, well, interesting. Without him, I do not know how the film as a whole would have held up. Despite all of the PR and critical troubles that Allen always ends up facing, he is still able to attract some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. As long as he can keep convincing the best performers to tackle his sometimes troublesome material, I think he will be OK. But hey, if you do not like Irrational Man, just wait a few months and Allen will have something new for you to nibble on.
The way he sees it, it’s the perfect murder. A complete stranger to both the woman in need and the crooked judge, no one would suspect Abe’s involvement. What’s fascinating about Irrational Man is not the plotting of the crime, which welcomely borrows some Hitchcock-ian tropes, especially near the end, but the way in which Abe’s two love interests react when they find out what he has gotten himself into. To keep from spilling too many secrets, I won’t go into it any deeper.
It helps that Allen writes Jill and Rita as three-dimensional characters who do more than fawn over the deep, male hero. Rita, especially, will move you as the story reaches its climax. Casting made the right choice when choosing Posey, an actress criminally underused in modern movies. Irrational Man proves that she is just as good, if not better, than all of the young starlets dominating the industry today.
As you may have heard, the film is not perfect. It takes longer than it should to really get started, and Abe’s depressive bloviating can get tiresome. Thankfully, Phoenix is such an interesting actor that he overcomes Abe’s moaning and makes him actually pretty, well, interesting. Without him, I do not know how the film as a whole would have held up. Despite all of the PR and critical troubles that Allen always ends up facing, he is still able to attract some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. As long as he can keep convincing the best performers to tackle his sometimes troublesome material, I think he will be OK. But hey, if you do not like Irrational Man, just wait a few months and Allen will have something new for you to nibble on.