(USA, 2004) comedy

director: Woody Allen
screenplay: Woody Allen
director of photography: Vilmos Zsigmond

STARRING:
Will Ferrell
Neil Pepe
Stephanie Roth Haberle
Nicolas Pernisco
Radha Mitchell
Chloë Sevigny
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Michael J. Farina
Josh Brolin
Jonny Lee Miller
Wallace Shawn
Larry Pine
Matt Servitto
Arija Bareikis
Brooke Smith (I)
Zak Orth
Andy Borowitz
Amanda Peet (I)
Shalom Harlow
David Aaron Baker
Christina Kirk
Alyssa Pridham
Katie Kreisler
Quincy Rose
Steve Carell
Richard Holmes (III)
Michelle Durning
Geoffrey Nauffts
Daniel Sunjata
Vinessa Shaw
Alex Harder
Lauren Adler
Gene Saks


The combination of Woody Allen and Will Ferrell and the familiar Manhattan locales would be enough in itself to make "Melinda and Melinda" a very appealing proposition on paper. Together with an astute ensemble cast and a witty premise, "Melinda and Melinda" in practice makes for one of Allen's most accomplished and enjoyable films in years. The story starts in a Chinese restaurant with a group of arty types (including the inimitable Wallace Shawn) discussing the relative merits of comedy versus tragedy. Then we cut to twin narratives, each of which begins with the same incident, but which develop along different lines--one tragic, one comic.
The cast sparkles under Allen's aegis and the challenge of making it all work, in particular Rhada Mitchell in the double female role of a distressed woman trying to sort out her life. Johnny Lee Miller, Chloe Sevigny, Amanda Peet and British actor Chiwitel Ejiofor also confront all those classic Allen themes about the fragility of love, marital infidelity, sophisticated romance, and the inability to communicate. -Richard Mowe