by Frank Calvillo
Irrational Man hit theaters in the U.S. on July 17, 2015.
One of the most criminally underappreciated works of the legendary Alfred Hitchcock was his film version of the 1948 stage play Rope. Loosely based on the real life murder case of Leopold and Loeb, Rope told a story of two young men who decide to commit a murder in an effort to prove just how inferior human beings actually are. The film was not a hit despite the presence of Jimmy Stewart and it’s only been recently that Rope has started to get the proper respect it deserves.
Though its carefully constructed trailer paints it in a totally different realm, Woody Allen’s Irrational Man definitely serves as an existential updating of Hitchcock’s film.
Irrational Man focuses on Abe Lucas; a renowned philosophy professor who has taken a teaching job in a Rhode Island college for the summer. Though everyone marvels at his genius, Abe finds himself in an existential tailspin as he struggles to find any kind of purpose or meaning in his life.
It seems neither the adoration of a married chemistry professor named Rita (Parker Posey), nor an extremely close friendship with a student named Jill (Emma Stone), is enough to pull Abe out of his mental abyss. Yet when Abe makes the decision to murder a local judge after overhearing how his overtly biased ruling will add irreparable grief to an innocent woman, he rids himself of his depression and discovers a sense of purpose he never knew he had.
The first third of Irrational Man plays out the way Abe feels; it’s sluggish, aimless, and full of thoughts that are wrist-slittingly depressing. These early scenes made me sad for Abe, but also for Allen, whom I had begun to fear had hit both a personal and creative wall with each morose line that passed from his characters’ mouths.
Its only when Abe embarks on his plan to kill the judge that Irrational Man truly comes alive, becoming one of Allen’s most refreshing and intellectual offerings in years. Watching Abe haphazardly go about the many ways to execute the perfect crime is hilarious. Moreover, the renewed vitality he enjoys from the thrill and excitement of killing is thrillingly shocking in its own quiet way. The idea of a man attempting to execute death in an effort to rediscover life could never be anything but absurdist and provocative. Quite simply, it is the kind of irony only Allen can pull off in such a way.
Though the concept is certainly dark, Irrational Man is not short on comedy and bursts full of lines which are pure Allen stock, such as when after being told by Jill that he suffers from despair Abe proclaims, “Oh, how comforting that would be.” Likewise the scenes of Abe trying to execute his murder are so full of light fumbling slapstick, that one can’t help but laugh.
And yet its not surprising if people don’t. American audiences have had a long history at being unable to see the funny side of death. Maybe because it’s something that people inherently fear that they can’t bring themselves to laugh at it, regardless of how it is presented. During my screening, I was sadly the only audience member giving Irrational Man the chuckles it so rightly earned.
Happily, things are all up to snuff in the performance department. Phoenix naturally does a good job as Abe, even if he may be throwing in his interpretation of the Allen prototype the way many others have before him. If that’s been the case in the past, surely its because the image of Allen is so firmly etched in an actor’s mind, it inevitably bleeds into their performance.
Posey does quite well channeling an ’80s Debra Winger in both appearance and performance. However, both her character and the poetic life she brings to it, belong in an entirely different movie.
Meanwhile Stone is nothing short of luminous as the young student enamored with her idol, yet struggles with the harsh reality she’s faced with. I’ve really enjoyed watching Stone on screen lately and noticing how she’s learned to say no to projects dripping with commerciality in favor of characters which are unlike those played by some of her contemporaries. Irrational Man is certainly another step in Stone’s ascension to great leading lady status.
A friend of mine once commented that his problem with Allen is that he tends to make one good movie each decade and then spends the rest of the decade remaking it. This comment perfectly sums up the reputation the legendary director has nowadays. Although I’m not always in love with the films he churns out, I continue to be constantly wowed on some level by the ideas he expresses through them.
Here, he visits the idea of a man playing God in the most stark and upfront way. Allen dares to explore the kind of fragile personality that literally needs to take life in order to sustain his own and what such an act says about existentialism and humanity in today’s world.
It is the kind of the fascinating idea that Hitchcock was only able to tap into during the final act of Rope. With Irrational Man, Allen has crafted an entire film around these specific life and death notions and explores them in hilarious and probing ways that not even Hitchcock could.
