“Irrational Man” (2015) could be watched in a double-bill with “Joker” (2019). Both feature Joaquin Phoenix as a man who looks at the world through an idiosyncratic moral lens. The latter is the more entertaining movie, because it has verve and surprises. But the former is, well, a Woody Allen film.
Not all that dark or funny
It’s labeled as a “dark comedy,” but it’s not that dark or funny. The humor doesn’t come from set-ups or punchlines, but from oddity value: Phoenix’s Abe openly and calmly proposes killing a nasty judge. Any potential shock is muted by the gorgeous Ivy League-lite scenery and piano music.
Abe is a Rhode Island college professor of philosophy, and he’s interested in putting morality into action: Killing the judge will make the world a better place. By comparison, if he talks and writes about morality all day, that does no good.
“Irrational Man” (2015)
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey
“Irrational Man” examines Abe’s proposed action not in a vacuum, but in reality. His prized student, Jill (Emma Stone), represents that reality: She believes premeditated killing is wrong. She can’t compete with the arguments of Abe (who is actually a rational man if we accept society’s irrationality).
But Jill feels it in her gut. It’s up to the viewer to decide if Jill is correct in her mainstream position, or if Abe’s arguments win out. Can something be “wrong” even if no rational argument works against it?
Think piece on a well-trod topic
The film is more interesting as a think-piece than a watch-piece. Although it’s Allen’s standard 100-minute length, it feels thin and slow.
It’s not all about the moral question, granted. It’s also about the possibility of an Abe-Jill romance, something everyone can see is a cliché, including Jill’s boyfriend Roy (Jamie Blackley) and a fellow professor (Parker Posey) who has designs on Abe.
In the film’s reality, Phoenix is catnip to women, although if we were told he’s a ridiculous schlub, I would’ve believed that too. Partly this is a case of the screenplay telling us what’s what.
But Phoenix does have a chameleon quality: The way he carries himself here compared to “Joker” is indeed the difference between warm college prof and unhinged psycho – even though it’s a fine line.
Stone, for her part, has much better chemistry with Phoenix than with Colin Firth in her previous Allen collaboration, “Magic in the Moonlight” (2014). But her overall character is better there, and “Irrational Man” is ultimately a lesser film.
It gets by on the actors’ appeal
There’s not enough here that hasn’t been done better elsewhere, even if we narrow the scope to the works of Phoenix and Allen. The Allen character’s situation in “Anything Else” (2003), for example, covers similar moral ground. But it’s funnier.
Granted, it’s a side plot in “Anything Else,” and it’s the main point in “Irrational Man.” For a while, this film has momentum based simply on “Will Abe put his words into actions?” and “If so, what then?” But I found the answers obvious.
Allen has made a career out of exploring off-center personalities, and Abe is the latest: someone who is thoroughly depressed until he finds meaning in concrete action. The exploration is honest, and it’s enjoyable to see talents like Phoenix and Stone leading the discussion.
But I wish the final act could’ve found a way for a surprising statement (while retaining the honesty). Instead, “Irrational Man,” as a story, doesn’t take action to stand out in the well-trod subgenre of murderer-as-main-character. It merely thinks and exists.