Film: 'Irrational Man'

I always seem to like those Woody Allen films which are widely considered 'inferior' more than the critics do. So it is with this one. Everyone seemed to agree that his 'Blue Jasmine' of 2013 was nothing short of magnificent. But since then, his 'Magic by Moonlight' was deemed a sorry return to less than fine form and this one has been likened to be similarly disappointing. Although I thought 'Moonlight' was just 'okay', I found 'Irrational Man' much better, while not hitting the stratospheric heights of which Allen is capable. Having seen on the cinema screen every single one of the films which he's written and directed, though accepting their variable quality, there isn't one of them I wouldn't watch a second time, and more than a few of them not just several times but endlessly. This one for me is in the 'three or four times' category.

Joaquin Phoenix (in an unusually withdrawn and reflective role for him) is a university theology professor newly arrived on campus, wasting little time in getting involved, or at least attempting, an adulterous affair. (with Parker Posey - known best to me as being a cast regular in Christopher Guest's excellent mockumentary series, including 'Best in Show', 'Mighty Wind' and 'For Your Consideration').
His life is wearisome, turgid and aimless - as well as impotent - he frequently reaching for his hip flask to take a slug of scotch. One of his students, Emma Stone (who was also in Allen's above-mentioned 'Magic by Moonlight') becomes fascinated and then infatuated with him despite her having her own keen boyfriend - though she insists to Phoenix that she hasn't committed herself yet. They start seeing a lot of each other and, eventually, begin a parallel affair.
Before that happens, one day they are both in a diner when they overhear a woman at an adjacent table tearfully telling her friends how her life is being ruined by a certain judge who keeps frustrating her attempts to get a separation, and the longer the tussle goes on the more and more it's costing her. Her tragic plight moves both Phoenix and Stone (as pictured above). When alone, Phoenix dwells on this woman's situation and then gets the outlandish notion that if he murders this judge (for purely philanthropic reasons!) then he'll not only have helped this woman but done the world a service in getting rid of this obnoxious character - and, having no connection with his intended victim he wouldn't be traced. So he does the deed, and surprises himself to find that he's now got a 'zing' back into his life, giving it a purpose. (He's rediscovered his 'mojo'!) It is from this point that he embarks on his affair with the much younger Stone, his former impotence now not an issue. But, as you might guess, his attempt at the perfect murder gradually unravels, right up to its very dramatic conclusion.

For the first twenty minutes or so I found this film meandering a bit too much. It didn't seem to settle down and had no strong focus. But all that changes with the diner scene, and from there on it's sure-footed all the way.
One critic complained that Woody Allen's presence as director was hardly noticeable, that he must have been 'sleep-walking' through this. I didn't find it so, and saw quite a number of his trademark touches. His script is occasionally quite sharp and I never cease to love the expressive hand-waving conversations his actors always seem to give. It's a relatively small cast at the core - just a quartet, if one includes the cuckolded boyfriend. But it's never less than interesting.
Casting, particularly of the two main women, Stone and Posey, is first-rate.

At first I felt cagey at the thought of giving this the same rating as I did for my previous post, 'Legend'. However, I can't get away from the fact that I liked this just about equally but in a completely different way. So I shall........................7.