Irrational Man (Woody Allen) -2015

In his later years, Director Woody Allen has resorted to the making of films that tease his audience with puzzling situations.  The lead character (Joaquin Phoenix) for this one seems to be borrowed from The Stranger by Albert Camus.  The visiting philosophy professor is a brooding nihilist who was once a social activist but became disaffected by the endless number of unfortunate people in this world of seven billion plus.  To my amazement, two beautiful & intelligent women on campus (Parker Posey and Emma Stone) are immediately attracted to this depressing lump of coal.  The professor contemplates suicide while trying to avoid interaction with others, including the women who are desperate to leave their stable male partners.  Out of the blue, Joaquin decides to commit an irrational act to help another person he has never met.  Becoming a caped crusader makes the professor a happier person who has finally found his lot in life.  But, Emma puts two and two and two and two together and decides that this is not the lump that she wants to carry for the rest of her piano-playing life.  A better title for the movie would be "Immoral Man".  Woody chose soft jazz instrumentals for the movie led by In Crowd written by Billy Page in 1964.  The sets, scenes and film editing are excellent as always in Woody Allen movies.  Irrational Man was filmed in several Rhode Island locations including the campus of Salve Regina University.  [JAM 3/6/2016]