Melinda and Melinda (2004)

One of the better later-era films written and directed by Woody Allen.

Is life fundamentally comic or tragic? A group of writers sit around a table discussing it. We, the viewers, see their debate explored through two versions of the same story, both centred on the actions of Melinda (Radha Mitchell) – a woman with a complicated history who arrives unannounced at her friends’ New York home.

It’s an odd experiment. I found both of the stories engaging. Will Ferrell is good in the witty, self-deprecating role Woody Allen would have played if he’d cast himself, but Chloë Sevigny and Jonny Lee Miller seem merely wooden as Laurel and Lee. Glossy and a little shallow, parts of the film are a little like an episode of Friends, with relationship-based conversations taking place in luxury apartments.

There are some funny lines and some enjoyable moments. It’s worth watching for Radha Mitchell’s versatile acting and considerable charm.

Something’s Gotta Give (2003)

Silly but amiable rom-com directed by Nancy Meyers. 

Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) is a womaniser in his sixties who only dates women half his age. Then he meets his girlfriend’s mother, the successful playwright Erica Barry (Diane Keaton), and discovers a deeper connection that surprises him. 

Keanu Reeves is passable but underdeveloped as the doctor who also falls for Keaton. Frances McDormand is oddly underused as Keaton’s sister. And Amanda Peet is the weak link as Keaton’s daughter, with a narrative arc that’s all over the place. For example, she’s distraught to learn that her father (Paul Michael Glaser) intends to remarry, but then this is never mentioned again. Indeed, Glaser’s character seems to have been pretty much edited out of the film – or never written into it in the first place. 

In some ways it’s as formulaic as its title, with daft slapstick and several improbable moments. But Nicholson and Keaton are such pros at this kind of thing that they make the most of the flimsy material and it ends up being highly watchable.