Mr Black Finally got to see this gem. As a film, I found it very interesting to watch for technical and directing reasons. I counted one take that was a minute and a-half long of walking through down a street in the city. I've always admired the way Woody Allen can use these long takes to such great advantage. And I admire the actors for managing to pull them off. As I slowly get through the entire Woody Allen library, one by one, I found this film to be a little too Woody Allen a times. Again, someone is going to be introduced to a dentist or a doctor named 'Sy Rubenstein," 'Sol Eplestein' or Juda, or Noah... The whole New York Jewish thing is so predictable in his films. Also, again the dialogue which is just not how people speak - Not even in New York. Will Ferrel's character was like listening to Woody Allen in Annie Hall, except the lines were delivered by someone else. Some of the gags were very good though. Over all I thought the performance were well done, all around. Thought everyone was well suited for the character and they all did a great job. Glad to have it in my Woody Allen collection.

blanche-2 Sometimes Woody Allen hits, and sometimes he misses.Mostly he hits, and for a man who has given us so many films, and so many wonderful ones, it seems wrong somehow to criticize his misses. But this is one.Melinda and Melinda is the same basic situation shown as both a comedy and a tragedy as writers discuss the value of both as they eat at a restaurant.Melinda (Radha Mitchell) is a beautiful young woman who shows up during a dinner party. In one scenario, she shows up bedraggled as a college friend; in the other, she's a neighbor. We see how she changes the lives of those around her.The structure of the movie for me was the main problem. I would have preferred something where each story was told separately instead of at the same time, which was confusing. Also, for me, anyway, the "comedy" wasn't comic enough and was much less interesting.The tragedy/drama was much more compelling, and in itself would have made a good movie.Will Ferrell plays the Woody Allen role, and I personally hate the imitation. I know it's a common gimmick, but I'd rather they just say the lines, which are funny, without being Woody. The rest of the cast includes Chloe Sevigny, Jonny Lee Miller, Amanda Peet, and Brooke Smith. Everyone did a good job. As someone already pointed out, with the presence of Mitchell, it did seem to be a Woody-Mia story.It would have been interesting to see both stories separately, as I said, with the comedy coming first. The tragedy would perhaps then have seemed funny in spots because of the difference, and therefore making the same statement: in life, situations hold both humor and drama; sometimes it's all in the perception.

TheLittleSongbird Is Melinda and Melinda one of Woody Allen's best? To me, no it isn't. Is it one of his worst? Again, no but like a fair amount of Allen's films it seems to be quite a divisive film, and you can see why. Things considered, while not a great film and with some unevenness Melinda and Melinda is a good film but a love-it-or-hate-it one as well. As with almost all Woody Allen films, it's beautifully made- such attractive locations and the cinematography flows from one frame to the other with few problems- and Allen directs very assuredly on the most part if more in the comedy scenes than the dramatic. The music fits with the atmosphere really well and has a nostalgic and catchy quality to it too. The acting is mostly very good, Radha Mitchell shows that she is as easy in comedy as she is in drama, funny and warm-hearted in the comedy scenes and affecting in the dramatic ones. Chloe Sevigny is another one of the reasons that makes the drama more watchable than it is, she looks very natural and plays with emotion, while Amanda Peet is fine too though underused. Will Ferrell was the biggest surprise of Melinda and Melinda, his performance was by far and away one of the best performances of the younger Allen alter-ego characters. Much better than Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity and Jason Biggs in Anything Else, whereas they were pale imitations Ferrell had charm and charisma and made the role his own in a way the other two did not. Not everybody impressed though, Chiwetel Ejiofor is stiff and Johnny Lee Miller is rather one-note in a quite boorish role. I am in agreement with those too that the comedy here is better than the drama. The comedy in Melinda and Melinda was great, very witty and quotable and a lot of it did make me laugh out loud. The scenes with the comedy are bright and breezy and have a light-hearted feel that is most endearing, and the characters while somewhat typically neurotic are relatively easy to engage with and the spirited performances help. The drama is not on the same level(a surprise really because Allen has shown that he can do comedy and quite insightfully and truthfully and those qualities unfortunately didn't come through), some of the dramatic scenes do drag a lot, the dialogue does sound forced and overwrought and the characters are much less likable and interesting than in the comedy story(fairly unusual for Allen, he has been known to have compellingly real characterisation when he takes on drama like in Hannah and Her Sisters and Husbands and Wives). The concept was an ingenious one, one of Allen's cleverest concepts actually, and Allen does make a commendable effort in entwining the two stories together even if it did personally feel a little confusing sometimes and the film does feel like one with two halves. All in all, Melinda and Melinda an uneven film but it is also a good and interesting one and in terms of where it sits within Allen's filmography I'd say somewhere in the middle. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox

mihkelm1 I liked watching this movie, it's very funny. It provides for a fitful afternoon full of witty dialogue and interesting sequence. The film is definitely original, all of it could've taken place in a theater. The director's done a good job, characters seem to know what they're doing and in general all of it provides a nice evolving story of about 10 people, who are amazingly easy to follow through the different options they have in choosing their partners. Indeed, all the options are pursued in this movie. I liked the way how fast and well all the characters spoke. The film itself is a quite fast-paced one.All in all - it's a romantic comedy. That's what is prevailing, although there are very sad moments.