Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
On a small town college campus, a philosophy professor in existential crisis gives his life new purpose when he enters into a relationship with his student.
Woody Allen's Irrational Man is a middling entry in his late-career catalog. The crime-of-passion philosophical premise echoes Crimes and Misdemeanors and Match Point but with less conviction. Joaquin Phoenix brings some charisma to the tortured professor role and Emma Stone is capable, but the material doesn't push either actor to their limits. Gordon Willis is absent and the Rhode Island cinematography is pleasant but unremarkable. The plot leans on familiar Allen tropes—intellectualism masking moral emptiness—without adding much new. The ending has a darkly comedic twist that provides some satisfaction but feels abrupt rather than earned.