Irrational Man Movie Review

Irrational Man (2015)

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Written by: Woody Allen
Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey 
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Abe (Joaquin Phoenix) is a womanizing, boozing, washed up college professor who forms a platonic friendship with a student Jill (Emma Stone)

Verdict
It feels a bit like Woody Allen with some introspection, but ultimately it's slow. It's once removed from the mystery. Instead of depicting a mystery, the characters just talk about it. The premise sets up a few clever scenes, but the movie just can't capitalize on the concept.
Skip it.

Review
Abe is the embodiment of a trope. He's a philosophy professor questioning the meaning and purpose of his life, having lost all passion. He has a bad boy reputation that everyone finds intriguing when he relocates to a small college.

He befriends a student, Jill, in a matter of minutes, which felt completely off. If they had run into each other more than once and began sharing a knowing wink, in class, I could buy that. Instead it happens instantly because the plot demands it. Abe also starts a relationship with a married professor, Rita as soon as he arrives. These are the only two things that happen quickly in this movie. When you're a college professor that doesn't care about your life, you attract women, apparently.
If we weren't sure whether Abe was completely apathetic, when two guys at a college party are explaining Russian Roulette using an unloaded revolver, Abe picks up the gun, chambers a bullet, points it at his head, and pulls the trigger. Of course everyone is shocked and appalled, but Abe proceeds to turn it into a philosophy lesson. We get it. Abe doesn't care. Maybe it foreshadows Abe's sociopath tendencies, but the scene came out of nowhere and the introduction of the gun felt completely contrived.

Irrational Man - Coincidence, it's all coincidence.

When Jill isn't spending time with Abe, she is telling her boyfriend how great Abe is. Jill wants a sexual relationship, but Abe rebuffs her. This is portrayed as an oddity for Abe, but this better captures his lack of passion, and it isn't as ham fisted as the Russian Roulette scene.
In the seminal scene, Abe and Jill overhear a woman bemoaning her custody case. The odds are against her and her life is on the precipice of being ruined.
Does Abe realize his life isn't that bad? No. Abe decides he will kill the judge presiding over the custody case and solve the woman's problem, though he doesn't tell anyone. It's perfect in its simplicity, and it fills Abe with purpose and passion. He can make a difference in the world and regain control, but this control on his life is predicated by ending someone else's life.
Abe plans the crime and gains access to the chemistry department through his previously mentioned affair. He succeeds in committing the crime, and Jill can't believe the coincidence. A man they wanted to die, has. Maybe that's the main theme of the movie, there are no coincidences, everything has a purpose. It would certainly help explain some of the heavy handed plot points.
Abe is ecstatic over his victory and is easily convinced to sleep with Jill now that his passion for life is back. 

When the media reveals the judge was poisoned, Abe, Jill, and her family theorize how the crime could have occurred. Abe adds his theories too, trying his best to avoid overtly implicating himself. It's a fun scene as Abe threads the needle.
At this point the movie, shifts into cruise control. With more coincidences, Jill is able to piece together that Abe might have actually committed the crime. She runs into Rita who also has a theory that Abe might have done it. Jill and Rita are obsessed over the idea that Abe might have done it. I don't know why. I guess because the movie couldn't continue if they weren't. It's surprising that the movie depicts amassing clues as so boring. After a few more unlikely coincidences and very little plot progression Jill confronts Abe. She ends the relationship, but won't turn him in.
When the cops have a suspect, Jill urges Abe to confess or else. Abe relents. As alluded to earlier in the film, one death opens the door to another. Abe must stop Jill, so he decides to close the loop, masking her death to appear as an elevator accident. Coincidentally, he worked as an elevator man at one point so he knows exactly what to do. It's as contrived as it sounds.
Abe meets Jill, attempts to throw her down the elevator shaft, but in the struggle slips on a flashlight he coincidentally won for Jill at a carnival earlier in the movie, falling down the open elevator shaft. Abe's passion for life has reached its end. It's a lesson you can't get from any textbook, Jill surmises in voice over.

Nearly all the plot points come full circle. The problem is that it ends up feeling contrived. Jill and Rita are just dumped into the plot because the plot will need them later. The flashlight is one of the few exceptions. It's introduction doesn't feel completely contrived and I soon forgot about it. When it comes back into play at the end, it works. This movie has a good idea, but it's not a good movie. It manages to bore us while Jill is solving the mystery of who killed the judge. Even bad movies can make mystery solving somewhat interesting. It's a good rough draft. The movie is only ninety minutes, so it had time to develop the female character introductions.