Every year there is a new Woody Allen film. With each passing year Woody’s films come under increasing scrutiny and debate. Has the great New York filmmaker still got what it takes or is he simply churning them out ad nauseum? His latest, ‘Melinda and Melinda’, stars Australian actress Radha Mitchell.

‘Melinda and Melinda’ started in what felt like a typical Woody Allen setting . A group of New Yorkers are huddled together in a French restaurant in heated discussion. The debate circles around whether life is essentially comic or tragic. Then a new element is thrown when one of the debaters, Sy, explains how easy it is to take a story and give it either a comic or dramatic tone. Then Sy illustrates this by coming up with dual scenarios involving a young woman called Melinda, hence the films’ quirky title.

In both scenarios Melinda gatecrashes a typical New York dinner party/soiree. In the comic version she is a vivacious woman who walks in on a dinner party given by her next door neighbours, independent filmmaker Susan and under utilised actor Hobie. In the dramatic version Melinda is a distraught woman who knocks on the door and seeks entry to Laurel and Lee’s apartment as they are giving a dinner party to impress a producer friend. The film then moves away from the chic French restaurant to see Sy’s scenarios played out.

TO BE CONTINUED