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Genre
Comedy | Drama
Director
Country
USA
Cast
Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley, Betsey Aidem, Ethan Phillips, Sophie Von Haselberg, Ben Rosenfield, Susan Pourfar
Storyline
A tormented philosophy professor (Joaquin Phoenix) finds a will to live when he commits an existential act.
Opinion
After the disappointing but still pretty good "Magic in the Moonlight", Woody Allen goes crime again, but the result isn't as good as the London trilogy was. In fact "Irrational Man" never quite takes off, and is basically nothing more than a wasted opportunity.
Why a wasted opportunity? Because of the story. Very appealing and interesting, it starts very promising, and it has a very interesting main character - Abe, a tormented philosopher with a distorted view of reality that will eventually find a meaning to his existence after a despicable act. And the first part is tremendously well done. It provides a background on the characters and shows how why a judge suddenly becomes Abe's target (and how the murder was carried out).
But something quickly goes wrong, and soon becomes a disaster. The psychological aspects of the plot evaporate, a potential plot twist is wasted, and the plot eventually becomes so surreal it will confuse you and so predictable it will make you lose any interest in the film.
Allen's direction isn't that good either. Unlike any other of his films, it is hard if not impossible to place the story in a specific period of time; the soundtrack, even though it's quite beautiful, is misplaced and most of the time it kills the drama; some scenes are beautifully shot and vibrant, some others are just poky; the pace is uneven; the dialogue not so smart.
Despite all of that, the actors, the leading duo actually, Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone, still manage to do a good job with their characters. That romance though.
Why a wasted opportunity? Because of the story. Very appealing and interesting, it starts very promising, and it has a very interesting main character - Abe, a tormented philosopher with a distorted view of reality that will eventually find a meaning to his existence after a despicable act. And the first part is tremendously well done. It provides a background on the characters and shows how why a judge suddenly becomes Abe's target (and how the murder was carried out).
But something quickly goes wrong, and soon becomes a disaster. The psychological aspects of the plot evaporate, a potential plot twist is wasted, and the plot eventually becomes so surreal it will confuse you and so predictable it will make you lose any interest in the film.Allen's direction isn't that good either. Unlike any other of his films, it is hard if not impossible to place the story in a specific period of time; the soundtrack, even though it's quite beautiful, is misplaced and most of the time it kills the drama; some scenes are beautifully shot and vibrant, some others are just poky; the pace is uneven; the dialogue not so smart.
Despite all of that, the actors, the leading duo actually, Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone, still manage to do a good job with their characters. That romance though.
I do love Joaqin Phoenix so maybe I will look after this one. It´s really not my kind of film, but sometimes you have to find something new.
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