Irrational Man Review

Another year means yet another Woody Allen film, and more importantly, another chance for admirers of his work to bask in the characters he creates. Working again with the radiant Emma Stone after their previous collaboration Magic in the Moonlight, this time Joaquin Phoenix joins Allen as the irrational man of the title. Long time fans of the director can expect much of the same from this film, but Irrational Man finds the auteur on particularly light-footed form in its frothy tale of love and murder.

Phoenix takes the lead as Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor whose reputation as he moves to a new college precedes him. He is there to teach, to write and to drink as much as he can between delivering lectures. Emma Stone is the student in his class who becomes infatuated with Abe and his bleak, but brilliant intellect. Stone's smart Jill catches the attention of Abe with a particularly original paper, and the pair become friends, complicated by Jill's boyfriend's understandable jealousy and Abe's developing relationship with another lecturer. Abe's complete loss of purpose in his life may be a strange part of his charm but it is soon to be interrupted when he hatches a plan to help a complete stranger by murdering a corrupt judge.

What starts out as a rather predictable looking romance takes a sharp turn when Abe and Jill overhear a conversation at a nearby table in a diner. From here, Allen balances the romantic elements with an altogether more interesting and outlandish murder plot. Several little twists and turns later, and Allen has dispatched an amusing morality play with some standout scenes sewn into his brusquely paced screenplay.

While the film starts out with Phoenix rattling out voiceover that couldn't be any more clearly written in Allen's distinctive voice, the characters soon start to develop. Phoenix seems to have stumbled in, still stoned from the set of Inherent Vice, and does a wonderful job of investing Abe with a believable and not completely unsympathetic misery born out of having lost hope that he can actually make a difference in the world. Emma Stone also gets her own voiceover, and her Jill eventually emerges as the real hero of the film. However, Phoenix gets the more interesting role as he finds a renewed lust for life, and a cure for his impotence, when he decides to kill a judge out of kindness to someone that he has never met. This perfect murder gives him purpose and his transformation from paunchy slob to charismatic anti-hero is a pleasure to watch.

While the love affairs take a backseat to the planning, performing and aftermath of the murder, Irrational Man is irresistibly silly fun. When keeping the intellectual mumblings of academics to a minimum, and revelling in Phoenix's responses to those who are trying to decipher the method and motive for the murder, Irrational Man comes alive. It's occasionally sweet, frequently silly and features a great slapstick death scene, but really this is Allen coasting on mostly familiar ground. Same time, next year?

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Inherent Vice Review

Private investgator Doc Sportello goes through life bare-footed and permanently sucking on a string of joint after joint. It’s 1970 and the Manson murders are a very recent bitter memory in an era where the peace and love of the hippies is giving over to the paranoia of those who always had their sneaking suspicions about the long-haired, soap-dodging flower children. Doc gets a visit from his ex-lover Shasta who informs him that her current boyfriend (rich and married) is about to be targeted by his wife and her lover in a bid to get him committed so that they can steal his money. So begins Doc’s investigation that brings him into contact with LA’s scuzziest inhabitants that include an all-star cast from drugged up dentists (Martin Short) to slightly psychotic cops (Josh Brolin).

Inherent Vice is a breath of fresh air after the oppressiveness of Paul Thomas Anderson’s last, The Master and the gloomy juggernaut of There Will Be Blood. Joaquin Phoenix is a revelation as the shambolic PI who mumbles his way through the film in a constant daze. With so many stoners on show, the pace sometimes seems to slow to an almost complete halt. You feel like shaking some of these hippies out of their stupor and shouting at them to snap out of it and get on with the story. In that respect, Josh Brolin’s flat topped cop is a welcome relief, whether simply ordering more pancakes or attempting to kick Doc into shape.

But really, the pleasure of Inherent Vice isn’t in the investigation. Most of the film is simply a series of conversations between Doc and a revolving door of oddballs. So Phoenix’s performance is a constant source of humour, even if you completely lose track of who is shafting who, who has disappeared and reappeared and what exactly Doc is even investigating. Beyond that, the enjoyment of Inherent Vice comes from being transported into a very specific time and place. It's got a great soundtrack and a hilariously spaced out voice-over running through it. It’s the kind of movie where the smoke seems to come right out of the screen, making you feel all misty eyed for an era you may have never even experienced. Doc is a slacker hero to rival The Big Lebowski's The Dude and with its hard-to-follow narrative, Inherent Vice is liable to leave you feeling just as drug addled as its protagonist.

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Paul Thomas Anderson Lightens Up with Inherent Vice Teaser Trailer

Was it really just me or was The Master a bit of a drag? Paul Thomas Anderson has had an incredible career as a director so far. First coming to my attention with Boogie Nights in 1997, he then baffled me with Magnolia, startled me with Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love and mesmerised me with There Will Be Blood.

But despite all the critical adoration heaped upon it, The Master left me cold and as far as I'm concerned, Boogie Nights is still by far Anderson's best film. It had a chaotic, cool vibe that was funny, poignant and had one of my favourite ever performances from the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Now Anderson seems to have settled on 'ex-rapper' Joaquin Phoenix as his go-to-guy of choice after working with him on The Master. Anderson has often talked about his love of comedy and his ambitions to make one, and Inherent Vice looks like it could get hysterical from the teaser trailer.

Joaquin Phoenix plays a shambling drug-fueled private detective who gets involved in a dangerous game of kidnapping among the incredibly wealthy, after his ex-girlfriend comes to him with the story. It's got a jam packed cast including Josh Brolin, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Owen Wilson and Eric Roberts but best of all, it seems that Josh Brolin may actually be having fun in this movie. It's been a while. Here's the trailer:



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Her Review

It’s not that weird to suggest a guy could fall in love with Scarlett Johansson just from hearing her sultry voice alone. Even if Scar-Jo is only the voice of operating system Samantha in Her, she is still sexy as hell; funny, inquisitive and doting all at once. Spike Jonze’s latest film as writer/director envisions a not too distant future where people could realistically fall in love with their artificially intelligent operating systems without worrying about the social stigma of appearing to talk to themselves in public.

Joaquin Phoenix plays unlucky in love Theodore who has lost the love of his life (Rooney Mara) and is now going through a tricky divorce. Working as a greeting card writer, he conjures and delivers beautifully written bits of prose to lovers who can’t be bothered writing the words for themselves. In Jonze’s future, real relationships have become as meaningless as these false communications written by countless writers like Theodore in call centre like offices. People roam the streets with ear pieces stuck in their brains for making contact with people who are not actually there with them. Everyone is mad; everybody is talking to the voices in their heads. When Theodore gets his new artificially intelligent operating system Samantha, his relationship seems little different to anyone else’s in this strange but familiar new world.

Theodore tries dating, phone sex and confiding in friends but no one understands him like Samantha. With access to his emails, contacts and the ability to learn, laugh and share every moment with him, Samantha and Theodore appear to be every bit as in love as anyone else. She may be there simply to serve him but she grows with him, explores and evolves with him and appears to fall in love with him. It is hard not to fall in love with selfless Samantha. She shows signs of developing clear feelings; fantasising, getting excited and developing an infectious personality. She is bubbly and fun and as she is learning about the world, she shares her joy with the jaded Theodore.

Phoenix is completely believable as Theodore; a love sick puppy who just wants to feel what he felt with his wife before their divorce. Johansson manages to make a character completely convincing despite no on screen presence. Jonze explores the relationship, the repercussions and the possibilities of the idea through a brilliantly clever script filled with wit, warmth and whimsy. From the idea of OS surrogates to the realisation of future video games, Jonze’s future is perfectly detailed and credible. With Amy Adams as an unhappy in her relationship neighbour and Olivia Wilde as a terrifying date, it is no wonder that Theodore thinks sticking to dating his operating system will bring happiness.

Falling in love may be, as one character says, a form of socially acceptable insanity but it’s ultimately impossible not to love every bit of Her.