by MATTHEW HAYS

Once a cinematic darling, Woody Allen has tested his fan base over the past decade. First, with his rather randy private life, in particular a scandal that involved his marrying his significant other's adopted daughter. Then his films began getting sucked down the toilet.

Sad, but true: the last released into cinemas, Anything Else, was such a sorry excuse for a movie that sitting through it was a significantly depressing exercise. And the entry before that, Hollywood Ending, seemed to please very few. (I hold the notable distinction of being the only critic in the universe to praise that film. For the record, I thought it was hilarious.)

Many are now arguing the controversial Allen has redeemed himself with the parallel-universe storyline of Melinda and Melinda, his fusion of the two key ways of treating a story, comedy and tragedy. In a framing device that recalls Broadway Danny Rose, Allen begins his action with four savvy New Yorkers sitting in a restaurant, debating whether human existence is essentially comic or tragic. The four begin exploring one central character through one basic plotline, with one writer telling the tale as tragedy, the other as comedy. Allen then has the two unfold, cutting between the two, with Radha Mitchell doing an excellent job of playing both Melindas.

Melinda and Melinda has two principal things in its favour: first, the premise is a really fascinating one. And second, compared to his last film, just about anything would come as a relief.

But those two things, clearly, are not enough to fully sustain Melinda and Melinda. The promising premise soon falters, with the striking central character's foibles never really fully realized or explained. Much of Allen's shtick really does become belaboured here, from Will Ferrell's mugging (he gets to channel Allen's persona in this episode, citing Nuremberg and ruminating about guilt and infidelity), to half-baked one-liners and awkward dialogue (Chloë Sevigny: "When you looked into my soul, what did you see?").

It's an ambitious movie, but despite twice the stories, Melinda and Melinda only half works.

Melinda and Melinda opens Friday, April 8

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