I like it (I don’t)
when somebody tells me: well, you like Woody Allen, but his latest movie is
shit. As if that statement is somehow controversial. It’s true that Allen is my
all-time favourite filmmaker but it’s also true that I’ve seen each and every one
of his films and believe me – I do
know when he misfires (which in this day and age happens rather too often).
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (unfunny)
September (dull)
Small Time Crooks (pointless)
The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion (daft)
Melinda and Melinda (annoying)
To Rome With Love (unnecessary)
Magic In The Moonlight (clichéd)
That’s seven Woody
Allen films I don’t rate. My affection for his style means that
aesthetically I find even his most dire offerings perfectly watchable and even
pleasing, but that does not negate the fact that the plot is slapdash, the
dialogues are trite and there really
is nothing wrong with taking a break between making films.
So you see, I have no
problem with Irrational Man being a
bad film. Allen has earned the right to be bad when he (unwittingly, of course) chooses to.
