Written and Directed by Woody Allen
*** (three stars)
RATED R
Another year, another new film from Writer/Director Woody Allen.
The nearly annual nature of new films from Allen can ether produce emotions of joy and anticipation or complete indifference and dismissal from movie goers and for my particular sensibilities, you can easily include me within the former group. Allen's prolific nature simply astounds me. Now that he is 79 years old, he remains seemingly unstoppable as his output has not slowed down a whit over the years and furthermore, the overall quality continues to outshine most of what one would be able to witness in their local theaters. But even so, with such a prolific nature not every film can emerge as solid gold and consistent themes may be revisited enough to the point of feeling that a new film is merely a recycled version of a past effort.
With "Irrational Man," his latest (and either his 46th or 47th feature film to boot), Woody Allen has arrived with a project that does indeed feel cobbled together from the spare parts of past and better films in his oeuvre but even so, the standard of the writing, direction and acting remain top tier culminating in a film experience that was completely involving, one that I would easily watch again in the future but somehow was not entirely satisfying as I have seen it all before.
"Irrational Man" stars an excellent Joaquin Phoenix as Abe Lucas, a Philosophy professor who is caught within the throes of a forever deepening quicksand of an existential crisis. A morass of contradictions, Abe displays a uniquely rigid nihilistic view of existence while he is constantly seeking a sense of meaning and purpose whether through his writings, political activism and teaching, all of which has emotionally failed him. Regardless of his rampant depression, alcoholism and even sexual impotence, Abe Lucas captures the wide reaching fascination of the students and faculty of his new academic home, the small town college campus of Braylin, most notably the unhappily married professor Rita Richards (a terrific Parker Posey) and Jill Pollard (an excellent Emma Stone), one of Abe's highly impressionable students.
Much to the disapproval of Jill's boyfriend Roy (Jamie Blackley) and under the ever curious eyes and ears of Rita Richards plus the campus, Jill forges a relationship with Abe, which he entertains and rebuffs once Jill makes her more romantic intentions known. Yet, during a lunch date as Abe and Jill overhear a conversation at the next booth, Abe makes a life altering decision that affords him with the exact sense of purpose that has eluded him..but not without dire consequences.
Woody Allen's "Irrational Man" exists as yet another of his philosophical debates with the meaning or meaninglessness of existence yet the film strode confidently into my personal wheelhouse on many levels. The collegiate setting combined with the academia of Philosophy was a powerful draw for me and the environment felt to serve as a perfect locale to showcase Allen's peerless, literary wit and dialogue which is ALWAYS a pleasure to hear when I go to the movies. As the conduits for Allen's words, themes and debates, Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone, who I believe elicited one of her finest performances, were nothing less than perfect. Their chemistry together was palpably charged and individually, they commanded the screen with an ease, confidence and sharp intelligence that was intoxicating to regard, especially as the story stretches into its darker passages.
Phoenix's work as Abe Lucas made for an Allen creation that was as multi-layered as it was familiar. Certainly, Abe's inner trauma mirrors Allen's as he is a self-described nihilist, who despite the random and unforgiving nature of the universe, continues on his artistic path without trepidation year after year. In fact, the character could exist as another one of Allen's stand-ins, not in those iconic mannerisms and gestures, but completely within a certain philosophical makeup, belief system and conflict, that is indeed fascinating and frustrating. What Allen achieves with the character of Abe Lucas is to take him (and the audience) on a wild emotional ride that begins in despondency, transforms to elation and further evolves into a sense of entitlement that borders on madness and Joaquin Phoenix is equal to every tempestuous tenor.
As he performed so brilliantly in Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" (2012), just regard Phoenix's body language throughout the film. Just watch how he seems to have an ever present paunch and stoop during his drunken first third of the film and how he makes subtle new changes as the character discovers a certain and disturbing new lease on life. Yet, Phoenix completely dives under the skin of Abe Lucas, making some sequences electric in their tension, most notably a short scene where Abe plays a round of Russian Roulette in front of his students at a house party to demonstrated the randomness of existence. From beginning to end, Phoenix remains as uncomfortably intense and as mesmerizing as ever.
Emma Stone also takes the familiar Allen character of the young woman taken in by the significant influence of an older man, not through sexuality (initially) but intelligence yet she infuses her own tenacious quality of taking on Abe Lucas as a bit of a challenge. For Jill Pollard, it feels that Abe Lucas represents that certain unattainable bad boy (clearly the complete opposite of her devoted but increasingly alienated boyfriend) that she feels that only she will ever fully understand and is also the one that can possibly tame his inner beasts as well as have him fall love with her. Thankfully, Allen and Stone do not have this character solely exist to determine which relationship she would rather find herself involved with. "Irrational Man takes Jill upon her own existential crisis as she is forced to think and re-think what her view of morality actually is, especially as she falls in love with the highly unstable professor and to a degree, slowly grows unstable herself.
All of this being said, "Irrational Man" has much to share with past Allen efforts, including two of his very best films "Crimes And Misdemeanors" (1989) and "Match Point" (2005) and for that matter, elements of "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1993), "Scoop" (2006), "Cassandra's Dream" (2007), as well as one of the storylines in the underrated "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger" (2010), as he again focuses his attention upon the ideas of fate vs. luck and the possibility of being able to commit the perfect crime, which is again murder. This time around, however, I don't think that the change in scenery and being fueled with such strongly written characters that are brought to vivid life by Phoenix and Stone were rich enough to make "Irrational Man" stand as tall as possible.
Dear readers, where some critics have bristled with any sense of repetitiveness on Allen's part, I will not join that specific choir. At least, not quite. I have no issues with Woody Allen revisiting or even recycling certain themes within his films for he is truly copying no one else but himself and the themes are clearly of intense interest to him (possibly even moreso as he ages and mortality is looming greater and closer). As an artist, I feel that Allen should be able to revisit these themes as many times as he wishes. The problem that I had with "Irrational Man" is not that he has returned to nihilism and murder but that he has nothing new to say about either of these themes this time around, which ultimately made for a film that doesn't stick to the cinematic ribs as tightly as it should. And while the film has not faded from memory, the proceedings still didn't feel as fresh as in films past. I guess it was sort of like seeing a volume of "Woody Allen's Greatest Hits" instead of seeing something that really jumped off the screen like "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008), "Midnight In Paris" (2011) and "Blue Jasmine" (2013).
But, I have no fear that Woody Allen will not be able to craft another great film. Who knows? Maybe it will be his next movie, which is presently getting ready to be filmed. Even so, do not let any minor criticisms sway you from "Irrational Man," especially if you are looking for a slice of sharp, smart entertainment designed for adults that is accessible, captivating, engrossing and sways and swaggers confidently to the sounds of The Ramsey Lewis Trio. While it is a film that you may wish to discover on the small screen down the road, I do gently urge you to go to the theater and give this film some box office support. Not for Woody Allen's sake necessarily but for the possibility that more films of a decidedly more adult nature, no matter how flawed, don't get swept under the rug entirely.
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