Irrational Man

2015

USA

Directed by: Woody Allen
Written by: Woody Allen
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA): R for some language and sexual content

Synopsis (from Rotten Tomatoes website):

When a burned-out, brilliant professor — one who believes in lessons from life rather than textbooks — takes a job at a small college, everyone there is abuzz. He becomes involved with a teacher as well as a precocious student, but it takes a dramatic, existential act to turn his life around and make him see the world through a much rosier and more positive perspective.

My Thoughts:

Maybe I should just give up on Woody, at least until he gets over his Emma Stone infatuation. Something about the girl just makes me want to be somewhere else. There were some interesting ideas in this one, but they got lost in the overall silliness. Joaquin Phoenix is a fine actor, but he's out of his depth as a philosophy professor, "tormented" or otherwise. (And what's with that beer belly? His stomach almost qualified as another character.) But Parker Posey was a bright spot. Please, Woody — no more deep-thought experiments.

My Rating at the IMDb: 4 stars out of a possible 10

Magic in the Moonlight

2014

USA

Written/Directed by: Woody Allen
Stars: Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Eileen Atkins, Simon McBurney, Marcia Gay Harden 
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA): Rated PG-13 for a brief suggestive comment, and smoking throughout

What it's all about:

In the 1920s, magician Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) enjoys worldwide fame as Chinese conjurer Wei Ling Soo, his stage persona. One of the most arrogant performers in the business, Stanley despises claims by phony spiritualists that they can perform real magic. At the request of his friend and fellow magician Howard (played by Simon McBurney), Stanley agrees to expose a young medium named Sophie Baker (Emma Stone). The lovely Sophie and her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) are staying with the wealthy Catledge family in their mansion in the Côte d'Azur, where Sophie has managed to ensnare the affections of young Brice Catledge. However, after attending a seance and having a few surprising encounters with Sophie, Stanley begins to change his mind about her and is left thoroughly shaken by evidence that her clairvoyant abilities just might be real.

My thoughts:

This was a very pretty movie -- the light throughout was actually magical. Unfortunately, that amazing light was just about the best thing about the film. I think it's possible I've outgrown Woody Allen. Which makes me sad because he used to be one of my favorite filmmakers -- Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Manhattan, and Manhattan Murder Mystery are among my all-time favorite movies. But the only one of the later films I've really enjoyed was Midnight in Paris. I always have high hopes for each new release, but I keep getting disappointed. 

It's not a terrible movie -- definitely not as annoying as To Rome with Love or as mean-spirited as Blue Jasmine. And it had some really fine performances -- Eileen Atkins as Aunt Vanessa, and the enormously talented Simon McBurney as Stanley's friend Howard particularly stand out. On the other hand, Marcia Gay Harden was pretty much wasted in the role of Sophie's mother -- more mom and less Sophie would have made for a much more interesting experience.

But, of course, Sophie was the whole point of the film: the young girl who represents renewal and new life for the aging curmudgeonly male at the film's center. Love and youth as some sort of salvation. She's in nearly every one of Allen's films these days, and she seems to be getting younger and younger. In this one, she is quite literally young enough to be the curmudgeon's daughter. OK, I don't really know how old Emma Stone is, but in the movie she looks about twelve. And the film's boyish 1920s-era fashions only exaggerate that childlike appearance (indeed, at one point she's dressed in a sailor outfit, oddly reminiscent of the Von Trapp children in The Sound of Music). In a way it's interesting to see the same trope used over and over in each new film, but it's also becoming truly disturbing.

My IMDb Rating: 5 stars out of a possible 10

To Rome with Love

2012

USA
(Watched the DVD from Netflix)

Written and Directed by Woody Allen
Cinematography by Darius Khondji
Cast: Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Judy Davis, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Ornella Muti
MPAA Rating: R for some sexual references

Story (from Sony Classics):

To Rome with Love is a kaleidoscopic comedy movie set in one of the world's most enchanting cities. The film brings us into contact with a well-known American architect reliving his youth; an average middle-class Roman who suddenly finds himself Rome's biggest celebrity; a young provincial couple drawn into separate romantic encounters; and an American opera director endeavoring to put a singing mortician on stage.

My Thoughts:
For me, To Rome with Love had a couple of strikes against it right from the start.  First, even though I do love foreign films, I have to be really interested in a film if I'm going to spend more than a few minutes reading subtitles. I used to have more patience for that sort of thing, but the older I get, the more irritating I find them.  And since I lost interest in this movie after about the first ten minutes, the subtitles made it even less likely I'd enjoy it.  Also, I'm not a Fellini fan, and this is something of an homage to the Italian director.  I have to admit, Allen does a fantastic Fellini imitation here -- right down to the annoying Nino Rota-style background music permeating almost every scene.  But if I'm going to have to watch Fellini, I'd rather just see the real thing.

But the city was certainly beautiful, and there were one or two rewarding moments -- several bits of slapstick were very funny.  And Alec Baldwin and Penelope Cruz were very watchable, as always.  But in the end, the characters and stories were uninteresting and forgettable.  Not one of Woody's better efforts.

My IMDb rating: Two stars out of a possible Ten.