One thing you have to say about Woody Allen is that he’s
consistent in the themes that he deals with in his films. Existential angst, infidelity, the curse of
the intellectual and guilt are covered once more in his latest, Irrational
Man, a movie with echoes to the director’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, Match
Point and Cassandra’s Dream.  That the
film travels down a well-worn path may suggest a sense of stagnation in the
filmmaker yet the conclusion on display here marks a shift in his view on
culpability and remorse.
Philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) is in a
funk, questioning his place in the world.Â
Having taken a position at Braylin College, a small-town institution in
New England, he’s the focus of attention to faculty members and students alike,
his reputation for brilliance and eccentricity preceding him. Despite his off-putting demeanor, Lucas soon
finds himself involved with a married colleague of his, Rita (Parker Posey),
and becomes the recipient of far too much attention from a student, Jill (Emma
Stone). Regardless of all this activity, the dour professor is still unable to
find purpose in his life, until one day he and Jill eavesdrop on a conversation
in a café in which they hear a woman lamenting that the judge assigned to the
custody case of her children is biased towards her cause and she’s sure to lose.
Then and there, Lucas decides to kill this man he never met to help a woman he
does not know.
One of the things that separate Allen’s films from his
contemporaries is the finely written dialogue he fashions for his scripts. Witty, concise and sporting a natural tone,
the conversations that take place in his movies have such an unaffected sound
to them that they lend an air of authenticity to the characters and the events
that surround them. That’s certainly the
case here and in the hands of the three principals the script and its
situations come vividly to life.Â
It will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Allen’s films or those of Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder that Lucas’ plan does not go off as planned.  However, what is surprising is his response to his scheme going awry.  Whereas remorse has dictated how his characters have acted in the past, what occurs here suggests that Allen’s view on social morality has shifted to reflect our modern outlook.  Anymore, the sin isn’t seen as committing a crime but getting caught red-handed.  Lucas is the personification for the moral vacuum we find ourselves living in and serves as a chilling reminder of the monsters that exist under the guise of civility.  Â
This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2015.
