L'homme irrationnel

A tight script? Check. Capable actors? Check. Lots of witty dialogue? Check. A jazzy soundtrack? Check. Beautiful photography in idyllic settings? Check.

Yes, all the ingredients are there. Just leave it to the 79-year old chef to create a delicious dish out of it. When everything is right, a Woody Allen movie is a delight to watch. And with 'Irrational Man', this is absolutely the case.

Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone are clearly enjoying themselves as the grumpy philosophy professor and his admiring student and lover. Allen's script plays in a lighthearted way with serious philosophical concepts such as guilt, evil and righteousness. Also, he throws in a murder mystery and makes the suspense last until the very end.

'Irrational Man' will not be one of Allen's greatest movies, because it lacks an extraordinary element like Cate Blanchett's performance in 'Blue Jasmine', or the historical dimension of 'Midnight in Paris'. But even without such an extra ingredient, 'Irrational Man' shows an expert craftsman at work. In a couple of years time, it might just turn out to be one of his most underrated films.

An interesting and enjoyable watch, but a little slow at times. Irrational Man is one of those movies where going in blind will certainly make for a better experience. Emma Stone gives a great performance in this and Joaquin Phoenix is amazing as always, and for the most part there is some great dialogue and chemistry between them. Probably would've been a much lower rating if not for Joaquin Pheonix's performance, who I am yet to see in a bad movie. It isn't the masterpiece I was hoping for from a Woody Allen film, and certainly does not compare to Midnight in Paris or Blue Jasmine, but it's still an enjoyable one and worth a watch.

I saw this movie today and it was just a breath of fresh air. In this era of political correctness and the consequent surge of tragicomedies that seem to be made to drive home the point that everything in life must be serious, Woody, in his infinite wisdom, has prescribed us a style of comedy often hated, misunderstood, and forgotten: the murder comedy a la Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux. I haven't laughed this hard at someone trying to kill another person since Preston Sturges's 1948 film Unfaithfully Yours, even though it's ultimately a much more understated English style of humor (very Comedy of Manners-ish.) As such, it doesn't surprise me that Irrational Man has been hated by most critics, since they are likely to fall into the trap of expecting that this movie will be one of the aforementioned tragicomedies, and thus simply think it fails to deliver. Instead, here Woody seems to find comedy in everything from Kant to sexism to suicide to faculty gossip, and as a consequence, the movie ends up as loose as his "early funny movies," unfortunately adding just another layer that might further confuse audiences. Essentially, if you don't find the satire quick you just won't understand what you're watching. On the actor side of things, Stone and Joaquin really kill it. It almost feels like they can turn the intensity up as easily as turning a knob, and there are three moments when you really get a sense of how far they can go.

This will certainly be on a list of Woody's most underrated movies in ten years time if the bad reception it gets doesn't slow down, and I hope that people will take the time to realize just what this movie is because I think they'd really have a good time watching it.

As said in my review for 'Café Society', and similarly in my other reviews for Woody Allen's films, Woody Allen often is an interesting and insightful director, whose films regardless of how they come off overall look great, have great soundtracks and he often knows how to get strong performances out of actors.

When Allen was at his best his writing was a fine mix of the hilarious, the poignantly dramatic and the thought-provoking. 'Irrational Man' doesn't see Allen at his best and is not among the best of his recent efforts. As also said in my review for 'Café Society', Allen's glory days were in the late 60s through to the early 90s, with the 70s and 80s (which saw masterpieces like 'Annie Hall', 'Crimes and Misdemeanours', 'The Purple Rose of Cairo', 'Love and Death', 'Hannah and Her Sisters' and 'Manhattan' for example) being particularly good decades. From mid-90s onward he became hit and miss (though personally don't consider any of his films awful, the lowest rating given is a 5), with the odd gem like 'Midnight in Paris' and 'Blue Jasmine' but generally his glory days are long gone.

'Irrational Man' is not a great film, but not a poor one either. To me, it is a mixed feelings sort of film. As far as his films from the 2010s decade go, 'Midnight in Paris' and 'Blue Jasmine' are vastly superior but 'Irrational Man' does fare better than 'To Rome With Love' and 'You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'.

There are obvious great things here. The cinematography is magnificent, then again all of Allen's films look great, while the attention to detail in the rest of the production values is both visually striking and meticulous. The soundtrack is a good fit and stands well on its own, but the repeated jazz song does grate and is overused. 'Irrational Man' does start off very promising, there are some genuinely hilarious moments as well as some thoughtful one.

Performances are extremely good, and Allen is no slouch in the directing department either. Joaquin Phoenix is simply terrific here and demonstrates why he is one of the better actors working today. Not everybody has warmed to her character, but Emma Stone makes for a great leading lady, showing a skill for comedy but also an ability to bring substance and bite as well. Parker Posey is underused but is a scene stealer whenever she appears.

On the other hand, when things take a darker and more of a mystery tone 'Irrational Man' is nowhere near as strong. It is derivative of other Allen films like 'Crimes and Misdemeanours' and 'Match Point', which were both philosophical and dark (while the former had a perfect mix of comedy and drama and succeeded brilliantly at both) and explored the themes much better. 'Irrational Man' when taking on this tone feels bland and not suspenseful enough.

Much of the script didn't either, one of Allen's weaker scripts generally. There are parts that do genuinely sparkle, but many other parts are clunky and lay it on far too thick with the philosophy to the point of being heavy-handed. Some of the writing is annoying and over-explanatory too with little point of being so.

The story feels like too much is crammed in but in a way that doesn't feel developed as much as it should be. Also take issue with the ending which is rushed and inconclusive, plus one character behaves way too out of character for no obvious reason.

In conclusion, starts promisingly and has many great things but feels unsatisfying. There are worse Allen films, but also much better, and the film in general could have been much better executed. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I enjoyed this even more than my rating suggests and I haven't scored it higher because it didn't make me want to see it again straightaway, which is basically my rationale for giving a film tops. Why not? Because, I think, I simply loved everything about this film and sat smiling and tingling not sure what was coming next but loving it all and I don't think all that would happen second time. Daft? Yes, maybe but certainly this is a must see film, perfectly constructed with full on comedic script and intelligent and sparkling dialogue. There is even a bit of action! Woody gives a nod here to Strangers on a Train but i think he he were honest there is even more of 'Dexter'. Its that clever mix of logic, rationality, morality, sin and humour. Lots of little things amused me, I particularly liked the elements of 'chance' and the astute and sharp critiques of various philosophers. i also enjoyed being surprised and never quite knowing where this was going - just loving the ride. This is most defiantly like 'one of those early funny ones, indeed we may have to start referring to 'those later funny ones' if Woody Allen carries on at this rate. Excellent.