dlynch843 SPOILER: I thought the Abe character played by Joaquin Phoenix was fairly interesting, as well as Parker Posey's. The academic setting in beautiful Newport was nice to look at- but what began as an interesting relationship between Jill (Emma Stone) and Joaquin takes a mean turn. I started to hate Emma's character--she was mean to her boyfriend before dumping him for Abe, then becomes morally outraged when she finds out Abe killed a dishonest judge whom Jill hated for making life miserable for this woman whose conversation they over heard at a diner. I wanted both Abe and Jill to go down that elevator shaft. A total bummer of an ending.

meeza Woody! Woody! Woody! Not the most rational humanoid that ever existed, but one thing about legendary filmmaker Woody Allen you have to admit is that his ratio of movies per year is phenomenal- 1/1; yes, one movie per year. Allen's "Irrational Man" stars the not-so-rational actor himself Joaquin Phoenix as Abe Lucas, an alcoholic Philosophy professor who joins up as an adjunct professor at a Connecticut university. Abe has lost lust for life and is very uninspired. At the university, he meets several key players including a Science professor colleague named Rita Richards who lusts for Abe even though she is married. Abe also befriends one of his students named Jill Pollard who admires Abe and this Pollard also wants to pollute Abe's college morals, or lack there of. Allen directs and scribes "Irrational Man" quite well with infamous Woodyisms such as insecurity, jealousy, anxiety, and delirium. And even though it is not one of his classic movies, "Irrational Man" rationalizes itself as a pleasant, quirky viewing. Phoenix shines as Abe. Emma Stone was very good as Pollard, and the very underrated Parker Posey stuck her pleasant thespian pose as Richards. So come one man, give that "Irrational Man" a try. **** Good

BeavisMoon OK, I get where the negative reviewers are coming from--the plot seemed formulaic at times. That being said, Allen executes it well and manages to make it seem fresh. I was taken completely by surprise by much of the film. I love Joaquin Phoenix, even more-so after this movie. Wow.Also, as someone who enjoys literature and philosophy, the quotes thrown into the script were great; one of my favorites was "in order to really see the world, we must break with our familiar acceptance of it". This made me pause the movie and look up the quote's author (Merleau-Ponty), and any movie that makes you think and learn new things like that is surely worthwhile.Give it a chance. I almost didn't watch it, but am sure glad I did.Honestly, one of my new favorite movies.

sbsieber I have always enjoyed the classic (and dare I say "original") Woody Allen movies that he produced in his early career. Over the years, they have become a series of hit-and-miss films whose only claim to fame is its director and the all-star cast he still manages to attract. I haven't heard of most of them, but when I stumble across one on Netflix, I know it's an Allen movie the moment one of the characters begins to speak.I don't understand how Allen manages to take a very disparate group of actors with different styles and techniques and somehow make them all sound the same. I call it the "Wooden Allen Method" (or "Syndrome", in the cases of the actors who appear in more than one of his films.) All of his actors become infected with an inauthentic, earnest intellectualism and speak their lines with the same stuttering, sighing angst. There have been exceptions, of course, as in the case of Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine, but in general every Allen ingenue sounds like every other ingenue, and every world-weary professor/huckster sounds the same, and the ingenues and professors always seem to end up "falling in love" and into bed together. Spare me. It is such a transparent conceit of a man past his prime to think that every gifted, beautiful young woman is frothing at the bit to bed his pot-bellied, greasy-haired self. The love stories in Allen films are rarely convincing, and weaken the overall trajectory of the movie. Let's all pause for a few moments and watch while a Beautiful Young Thing rolls around in ecstasy with a Withered Old Thing.The one sparkling exception however, was Parker Posey whose natural energy, and ebullience informed her small role with realism and humanity. I would love to see more of her in films that showcase her intelligence, wit and vivacity. She is maturing into a very fine actress.Overall, it's an alright movie; a passing indulgence of a long winter's eve. The location is beautiful, the story is interesting, and production value is sound.