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Movies / Upcoming / Melinda and Melinda
Melinda and Melinda

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Melinda and Melinda (2005)

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Reviews Counted:150

Fresh:80

Rotten:70

Average Rating:5.8/10

Consensus: Woody Allen's uneven Melinda and Melinda fails to find neither comedy nor pathos in what seems like a rehash of his previous themes.

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $3,727,614

Synopsis: Woody Allen mixes the tragic with the comic in MELINDA AND MELINDA, a delightful, intelligent look at two versions of the same story. After hearing a tale about a quirky woman who walks in... Woody Allen mixes the tragic with the comic in MELINDA AND MELINDA, a delightful, intelligent look at two versions of the same story. After hearing a tale about a quirky woman who walks in unexpectedly on a dinner party in an apartment in New York City, Sy (Wallace Shawn) expands it into a romantic comedy, while Max (Larry Pine) turns it into an urban tragedy. Allen intercuts between the two retellings, intermingling cause and effect, love and romance, failure and success, as Melinda creates havoc in both fictional worlds. Each story has its own cast: the comedy features Will Ferrell, Amanda Peet, and Josh Brolin; the tragedy stars Chloe Sevigny, Jonny Lee Miller, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Radha Mitchell is the only repeat actor, playing both Melindas, and she does a tremendous job. Interestingly, the comic section is not a straight laughfest, like Allen's SLEEPERS, ANNIE HALL, or BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, and the more serious part is not nearly as dour as INTERIORS or ANOTHER WOMAN. Instead, Allen, who has been criticized by critics and fans alike for not making more funny films, has created two parallel universes that each combines aspects of comedy and tragedy, resulting in a wonderful, insightful drama. [More]

Starring: Wallace Shawn, Larry Pine, Radha Mitchell, Jonny Lee Miller

Starring: Wallace Shawn, Larry Pine, Radha Mitchell, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Sevigny, Will Ferrell, Chjwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Steve Carell, Shalom Harlow, Vanessa Shaw, Josh Brolin

Director: Woody Allen

Director: Woody Allen
Screenwriter: Andy Borowitz, Woody Allen
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Melinda and Melinda

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
tomato

Urban Cinefile Critics

Reminds us there is little to divide comedy from tragedy, and that neither comes exclusively. After all, the tears of sorrow and the tears of joy both come from the same place, and dampen a tissue with equal intensity.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 18 2008 03:43 AM

Urban Cinefile

N/R

Luke Buckmaster

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 27 2005 03:15 AM

In Film Australia

tomato

Sandra Hall

Happy proof that news of Allen's artistic death has been much exaggerated.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 27 2005 03:15 AM

Sydney Morning Herald

tomato
3/5

Felix Vasquez Jr.

While the main lure for audiences--Will Ferrell--is basically forgettable, Allen does compose one fascinating and witty look at the human mind and its own ability to depict events through our own sub-conscious preference.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 29 2009 03:15 AM

Cinema Crazed

tomato
3/5

Jim Lane

Mitchell, in her dual role, gives a breakout performance (two of them, in fact).

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 07 2008 03:15 AM

Sacramento News & Review

splat

Prairie Miller

A movie just shouldn't feel like homework. And with the constant shift in stories and repeatedly reinvented characters, unless you're in the mood for taking notes, you're going to feel like you're invited to rehearsals, rather than the finished product.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 28 2007 07:40 PM

Long Island Press

tomato
3/5

Joseph Proimakis

full review in Greek

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 03 2006 09:12 AM

Movies for the Masses

tomato
3.5/5

Rory L. Aronsky

All the inner workings of "Melinda and Melinda" show that Allen has finally risen above, returned to his position as a fine filmmaker.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 29 2006 05:21 PM

Film Threat

splat

Ken Tucker

Neither version of Melinda, despite Mitchell’s game try at making them distinctive beyond their different hairdos, is funny or tragic enough to fully engage us; there’s no opportunity for an audience to be moved.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 12 2006 03:15 AM

New York Magazine

tomato
4/5

Ian Freer

It has great performances, snappy one-liners and a likeably tricksy structure, all wrapped up in an affirmative antidote to life's daunting complexities. Welcome back, Woody.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 01 2006 03:36 AM

Empire Magazine

splat

Alan Dale

Allen presents the side-by-side stories as if to compare the comic and tragic views of experience, and it might work but for the fact that the two [playwrights] come up with dissimilar plots featuring different characters played mostly by different actors

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 17 2006 05:33 AM

Blogcritics.org

tomato
B

Christopher Smith

One story, two versions, each from Woody Allen, so you know you're in for it.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 18 2005 06:40 AM

Bangor Daily News (Maine)

splat
3/5

Kevin Carr

The comic side isn’t really that comic.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 06 2005 11:13 PM

7M Pictures

tomato
4/5

Scott Weinberg

A welcome return to form from a really talented guy who's been churning out cinematic junk for the past few years.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 27 2005 01:40 PM

DVD Clinic

splat
2/5

Enrique Buchichio

(...) aburrida, ni lo suficientemente cómica, ni lo suficientemente dramática...

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 17 2005 04:24 PM

Uruguay Total

splat
4/10

Dragan Antulov

finding the plot "gimmick" seems to exhaust all of Allen's creativity

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 07 2005 11:02 AM

Draxblog Movie Reviews

tomato
3/4

David N. Butterworth

Schizophrenic but mildly diverting, with a revelatory performance by Radha Mitchell in the leads.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 21 2005 03:34 AM

rec.arts.movies.reviews

tomato
3/4

Jeff Vice

Overcoming the handicap of an overt, writerly device, Allen crafts a warm comedy and a painful tragedy right before our eyes.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 21 2005 11:39 AM

Deseret News, Salt Lake City

tomato
3/4

Linda Cook

Clever, if not cutting-edge, Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda" examines whether we interpet life as a comedy or tragedy.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 15 2005 03:32 PM

KWQC-TV (Iowa)

tomato
C+

Robert Roten

Even though this isn't up to the standards of the best Woody Allen films, it is still worth watching.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 02 2005 12:39 PM

Laramie Movie Scope

 
 
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Latest News for Melinda and Melinda

April 25, 2005: Radha Mitchell to Climb the "Silent Hill" for TriStar Pictures
More...

April 20, 2005: Cusack and Peet Have a Favorite "Martian"
Described by The Hollywood Reporter as "a cross between E.T. and Parenthood" is the upcoming family film "The Martian Child." John Cusack ("High... More...

April 01, 2005: Steve Carell to "Get Smart"?
Andrew Weil of ComingSoon.net had a brief chat with funnyman Steve Carell while visiting the set of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," and here's what the actor had to say... More...

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