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Melinda and Melinda

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Melinda and Melinda

Melinda and Melinda
Directed by Woody Allen
Produced by Letty Aronson
Written by Woody Allen
Starring Radha Mitchell
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Will Ferrell
Jonny Lee Miller
Amanda Peet
Chloë Sevigny
Wallace Shawn
Brooke Smith
Larry Pine
Steve Carell
Daniel Sunjata
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johannes Brahms
Igor Stravinsky
Béla Bartók
Cinematography Vilmos Zsigmond
Editing by Alisa Lepselter
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release date(s) March 18, 2005
Running time 100 minutes
Language English
Official website • IMDb • Allmovie

Melinda and Melinda is a 2005 film written and directed by Woody Allen. It was premiered at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The film is set in Manhattan and stars Radha Mitchell as the protagonist Melinda, in two story lines, one comic, one tragic.

Plot details

The premise of the film is stated by a group of four writers conversing over dinner at the beginning of the film. The question arises: Is life naturally comic or tragic? One of the four proposes a simple story (a distraught woman knocks on a door and disrupts a dinner party) and the two prominent playwrights in the group begin telling their versions of this story, one being comic and one tragic.

Cast details

Woody Allen said in Conversations with Woody Allen that he wanted to cast Winona Ryder in the title role but had to replace her with Radha Mitchell because no agency would insure her due to her famous arrest. Allen stated he was sad because he had written the part for Ryder after working with her on Celebrity.

Radha Mitchell plays Melinda in both versions. Chloë Sevigny, Jonny Lee Miller, and Chiwetel Ejiofor star with her in the tragedy, while Will Ferrell and Amanda Peet star with her in the comedy. Steve Carell has a small part as Ferrell's friend.

The film also stars Wallace Shawn as the comic playwright and Larry Pine as the tragedian, and Brooke Smith as Cassie. All three appeared in Vanya on 42nd Street (1994, directed by Louis Malle).

Critical reception

The film received mostly mixed reviews from critics, though Mitchell's dual performance was universally praised. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film received 51% positive reviews, based on 144 reviews.[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 54 out of 100, based on 40 reviews.[2]

Box office

Melinda and Melinda opened on March 18, 2005 in one New York City cinema, where it grossed $74,238 in its first three days, the 21st highest limited release opening in Hollywood history [3]. In weekend two, it expanded to 95 theatres to gross $740,618, seeing its per screen average nosedive to $7,795.

Overseas, it grossed an additional $16,259,545, bringing its worldwide total to $20,085,825. Woody Allen's subsequent productions have been financed and filmed in Europe.

Soundtrack

Main article: Melinda and Melinda (soundtrack)

References

  1. ↑ "Melinda and Melinda - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
  2. ↑ "Melinda and Melinda (2005): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
  3. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=melindaandmelinda.htm

External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Woody Allen
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
Small Time Crooks (2000) · The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) · Hollywood Ending (2002) · Anything Else (2003) · Melinda and Melinda (2005) · Match Point (2005) · Scoop (2006) · Cassandra's Dream (2007) · Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) · Whatever Works (2009)
Categories:
English-language films
2005 films
Comedy-drama films
Films directed by Woody Allen
Films set in New York City
Fox Searchlight films

History

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