The dependable and vintage Woody Allen films of July have become a given. So is the ole Professor/student affair….Professor Abe (Joaquin Phoenix) has just arrived at a quaint New England college in Newburyport to teach Philosophy. Rumors circulate that his wife left him, his best friend, died, he was blown up at war, and whatever else the faculty and students can assume given his weirdly depressed demeanor, his pot belly and his conveniently stored whiskey flask.
He tells his students in a moral world there is no room for lies. He focuses on teaching ethical strategies which is ironic since he’s about to plot the murder of a local judge. Parker Posey is a fellow teacher whose fallen hard for him, and Jill (Emma Stone) is his bug-eyed pet student. Posey wants to be his Muse while Stone wants to be his lover. She’s completely smitten with the tortured artist soul of Phoenix living in despair. She’s certain she can fix him.
Much like Match Point Woody Allen hasn’t lost his brilliant neurosis and twisted psyches…digging deep into flawed characters. But his flawed subplot involving a paper cup of orange juice and Stone wanting to get to the bottom of it persisting on a theory nobody else would pursue, seems a little far-fetched.
Nevertheless it’s highly entertaining and worthy of 3 tiaras.