Irrational Man Review

I saw Irrational Man on August 11, 2015!! Woody Allen has produced so many movies over the years, but in the last few years I've really enjoyed his work, particularly Blue Jasmine & Magic In The Moonlight. Irrational Man was one of my favorite movies of 2015 thus far. It was a movie filled with dark humor and great dialogue. It had incredible performances and an interesting plot. Complicated personalities, relationships, the difference between right and wrong, and irrational decisions/actions all converge into the central plot creating a unique movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Set amidst the backdrop of philosophical debtaes & revelations clashing with reality, Irrational Man looks at the depression of philosophy professor Abe who has encountered many negative situations in his life. He is a complicated man that people keep trying to figure out. The only way he is able to feel whole or happy is when he commits irrational acts as you see from a conversation he overhears in a diner. In some ways, you can see both sides of the issue that are discussed.  Joaquin Phoenix was the perfect actor for Abe. Joaquin was able to portray the deeply depressed Abe, while also presenting a macabre side to his personality that Phoenix has done several times in the past. His facial expressions have always been such a strong suit for him as they just make his performances better. He's a great actor in general in my opinion.

The best part of this movie for me was Emma Stone's Jill. I firmly believe she is the best actress at the moment. She commands the screen dealing with her own issues of commitment with her boyfriend Roy, as well as being drawn to the alluring mystery of the complicated Abe. Her energy and delivery of dialogue is always on point. Her chemistry with Joaquin was really well done. One example was the dinner table scene discussing circumstances about what happened to a prominent member of the community. Their chemistry here felt natural and it showed how intellectual Jill was in her reasoning.The maturity of Emma's role shows how great of an actress she is. It takes a great actress to be able to shape Jill into a well rounded character and Stone does this in her dealings with Abe & Roy, as well as her approach to dealing with issues that rise from Abe's actions whether physically, verbally, or emotionally.

This is a very thought provoking movie with intelligent dialogue set with great acting from Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix that I'm giving a 5/5. The dark humor blended with the complicated issues of the characters created such an intriguing movie that brings substance to the screen that so many movies lack these days.