Directed by:
Woody AllenScreenplay:
Woody AllenCinematography:
Vilmos ZsigmondCast:
Will Ferrell, Neil Pepe, Stephanie Roth Haberle, Radha Mitchell, Chloë Sevigny, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Jonny Lee Miller, Wallace Shawn, Larry Pine (more)Plots(1)
Over a meal in a Chinese 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 indie filmmaker Susan and under-employed actor Hobie. Back and forth the stories go, contrasting the destinies of the two Melindas. (20th Century Fox UK)
(more)Cast
![Will Ferrell](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272210_9668a8.jpg)
Will Ferrell
USA
Best movies:
The Boys (2019) (series)
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Megamind (2010)
Neil Pepe
USA
Best movies:
Magnolia (1999)
Analyze This (1999)
Homicide (1991)
Stephanie Roth Haberle
USA
Best movies:
Philadelphia (1993)
Melinda and Melinda (2004)
Deception (2008)
![Radha Mitchell](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/269/269170_aba643.jpg)
Radha Mitchell
Australia
Best movies:
Phone Booth (2002)
Finding Neverland (2004)
Man on Fire (2004)
![Chloë Sevigny](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/912/164912813_e9560b.jpg)
Chloë Sevigny
USA
Best movies:
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
Dogville (2003)
Zodiac (2007)
![Chiwetel Ejiofor](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/166/315/166315976_e6c3e2.jpg)
Chiwetel Ejiofor
UK
Best movies:
American Gangster (2007)
Love Actually (2003)
The Martian (2015)
![Josh Brolin](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/784/162784936_b2d2da.jpg)
Josh Brolin
USA
Best movies:
Dune: Part Two (2024)
American Gangster (2007)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
![Jonny Lee Miller](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/777/162777929_44ad13.jpg)
Jonny Lee Miller
UK
Best movies:
Frankenstein (2011) (theatrical recording)
Trainspotting (1996)
The Covenant (2023)
![Wallace Shawn](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/433/162433399_3c314a.png)
Wallace Shawn
USA
Best movies:
Toy Story (1995)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
![Larry Pine](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/835/160835935_e52bb6.png)
Larry Pine
USA
Best movies:
Dead Man Walking (1995)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Sunday (1997)
![Arija Bareikis](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/410/410424_f48be8.jpg)
Arija Bareikis
USA
Best movies:
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
The Naked Man (1998)
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
![Zak Orth](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/143/058/143058473_e26b56.jpg)
Zak Orth
USA
Best movies:
John Adams (2008) (series)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
When Trumpets Fade (1998) (TV movie)
![Brooke Smith](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/118/165118199_e5ba7e.jpg)
Brooke Smith
USA
Best movies:
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
The Moderns (1988)
![Daniel Sunjata](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/279/279216_33e81b.jpg)
Daniel Sunjata
USA
Best movies:
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Cyrano de Bergerac (2008) (theatrical recording)
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
![Amanda Peet](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/287/165287104_987879.jpg)
Amanda Peet
USA
Best movies:
Identity (2003)
Something's Gotta Give (2003)
The Way Way Back (2013)
![Shalom Harlow](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271830_fbc5f6.jpg)
Shalom Harlow
Canada
Best movies:
Salton Sea (2002)
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Melinda and Melinda (2004)
![Vinessa Shaw](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/415/162415089_b78d17.jpg)
Vinessa Shaw
USA
Best movies:
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Badland (2007)
![Steve Carell](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/036/164036842_a6c098.jpg)
Steve Carell
USA
Best movies:
Despicable Me (2010)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)
Gene Saks
USA
Best movies:
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Nobody's Fool (1994)
The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975)
![Sabrina Lloyd](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/276/276956_3a33eb.jpg)
Sabrina Lloyd
USA
Best movies:
Melinda and Melinda (2004)
The Pretty One (2013)
The Girl from Monday (2005)