Melinda and Melinda (2004)DVD VHS | Cast list | | Wallace Shawn | as | Sy | | Neil Pepe | as | Al | | Stephanie Roth Haberle | as | Louise | | Larry Pine | as | Max | | Radha Mitchell | as | Melinda Robacheau | | Michael J. Farina | as | Man with Dog | | Jonny Lee Miller | as | Lee | | Chloë Sevigny | as | Laurel | | Matt Servitto | as | Jack Oliver | | Arija Bareikis | as | Sally Oliver | | Brooke Smith | as | Cassie | | Zak Orth | as | Peter | | Will Ferrell | as | Hobie | | Andy Borowitz | as | Doug | | Amanda Peet | as | Susan |
| |
Review
Over a meal in a French restaurant, Sy poses a conundrum to his fellow diners: Is the essence of life comic or tragic? For the sake of argument, he tells a story, which the others then embellish to illustrate their takes on life. The story starts as follows: A young Manhattan couple, Park Avenue princess Laurel and tippling actor Lee, throw a dinner party to impress Lee's would-be producer when their long-lost friend Melinda appears at their front door, bedraggled and woebegone. In the tragic version of what happens next, the beautiful intruder is a disturbed woman who got bored with her Midwestern doctor-husband and dumped him for a photographer. Her husband took the children away and she spiraled into a suicidal depression that landed her straight-jacketed in a mental ward. In the comic version, Melinda is childless and a downstairs neighbor to the dinner hosts, who are ambitious Indy filmmaker Susan and under-employed actor Hobie. Back and forth the stories go, contrasting the destinies of the two Melindas. |
Other resources: Wikipedia, IMDB |
|
