Every Wednesday, FM writers Simon Columb and Brogan Morris write two short reviews on Woody Allen films … in the hope of watching all his films over the course of roughly 49 weeks. If you have been watching Woody’s films and want to join in, feel free to comment with short reviews yourself! Next up is Sleeper & Melinda and Melinda…
Simon Columb on Sleeper…
The poster of Woody Allen’s Sleeper mocks James Bond. Rather than alluding to the suave-spy, it would’ve made more sense to note the influence of slapstick-star Charlie Chaplin. The playful, silent acting, set within a sci-fi context, serves to support a meeting of like-minded comedians as Woody Allen gets his closest to non-verbal, physical performance. Musician Miles (Allen) is frozen for 200 years, inevitably falling for Diane Keaton, as Luna Schlosser. Using actor Douglas Rain to provide a voice, as he did in 2001: A Space Odyssey, this is Allen leaning on sci-fi stimuli and using H.G. Wells and George Orwell as source material. The tone is what established Woody in his early years, and his disguise as a robot (a plug in his mouth creating a motionless face akin to Buster Keaton) is amongst the best sequences in his career. Sleeper is solid, straight-up comedy without the intellectual chitchat.
Brogan Morris on Melinda and Melinda…
Great idea, so-so execution. Of all his high concepts, Allen’s idea on Melinda and Melinda to show the same character in two alternate movies – one a tragedy, the other a romantic comedy – is one of his best. As a director that’s made his career out of variations of both, Allen should knock it out of the park, but unfortunately doesn’t exploit the idea to its full potential. It’s also baffling that Allen, with all his power at drawing actors, casts the uninteresting Radha Mitchell in the difficult dual lead role. The entire cast, for that matter, seem awkward, with Will Ferrell particularly miscast, and all can’t make the film all that funny or affecting. Though the two strands are distinctive visually, with the tragedy dark and autumnal and the rom-com sunny and light, an unwillingness to commit fully to each genre leaves both storylines in some dramedy middle ground.
Brogan Morris – Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the young princes. Follow Brogan on Twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion.
Originally published November 20, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
