In the Arkansas Times, the first decent review of Irrational Man that I've read. In the sense that the review is about the movie I saw last week. All the other reviews repeat the standard Woody Allen movie review cliches. I presume there was a template sent out that the other reviewers pasted into their publications.

the film develops into an allusion to "Crime and Punishment," a book by an author who, unlike Allen, does not have a reputation as a funnyman. Allen has played the Russian novelists to light effect in the past, but this time he opts to go heavy. Abe could probably do a lot of things to help the divorced woman. Putting an ax through the judge's head — or a more subtle and cinematic version of that — is perhaps not the most rational. But that's the thought that enters Abe's mind.

I liked the bit when "The Idiot" was next to Phoenix's head. The flick's a neat minor noir (Allen's young female characters are always too twee for the story), and Allen's most intellectual movie; in terms of grappling with an idea throughout. It's not a great movie. He's done better stylistically. It relies on voice overs. The final then-I-lived-happily-ever-after voice over is really too much. It should have ended with Jill looking down the elevator shaft with her flashlight. Deft use of comedic slapstick to resolve a dramatic plot.  ¶ 11:04 PM