Irrational Man -- Film Review

Irrational Man

Directed by Woody Allen

I hated this practically from the moment it started, although I did like the Ramsey Lewis Trio's version of "The In Crowd" -- perhaps the single redeeming feature of this film.  After less than two minutes I said to my friend, "Let's go."  But he ignored me, and we sat through the whole thing.  The characters in this film are drawn from two groups of people I know something about:  philosophy professors and pianists, and neither in this film is convincing.  Abe (Joachin Phoenix) is totally unconvincing as a philosophy professor, however, he is more convincing as an alcoholic, and a complete loss as a murderer.  Jill (Emma Stone) bears no relationship to a pianist or musician, and she seems rather older than an undergraduate student.  The problems with this film are not the actors' faults.  The script is badly written.  There are so many things wrong with this film.  I am not going to spend a lot of time on this.  I am just writing this to warn you off.  The characters are poorly drawn and the plot makes no sense whatsoever.  Woody Allen is trying to do a contemporary version of Crime and Punishment, but it really crashes.  He made a big mistake setting this in academia.  It seems like he is out of his element.  He doesn't understand murder or crime either.  An alcoholic who is on the verge of suicide does not suddenly find a meaning in life by plotting to kill a stranger in order to make the world a better place.  Please.  People do kill strangers on the flimsiest provocation, or for no obvious reason at all, but it is an expression of pathos rather than a reasoned attempt at self regeneration.  Any pianist who can perform Bach's Prelude in C minor in a public recital on a college campus must have a life dominated by the piano.  But we never see this girl practicing.  She takes her piano lessons, just as she goes to her philosophy class, but if she were preparing for a recital, she wouldn't have time to be chasing around with her philosophy professor.  She would never be available.  Serious pianists don't have lives.  So this movie could not happen.  The final, climactic scene has a tragicomic hilarity to it.  My friend and I both broke into laughter.   But I won't spoil it for you.  At the same time I don't recommend waiting through to the end to see it.   This is a bunch of nonsense.  Read Crime and Punishment instead.