Start to Finish: Woody Allen and the Art of Moviemaking

Woody Allen biographer Lax (coauthor, Bogart; Conversations with Woody Allen) utilizes his longtime and close access to the prolific film director and reaffirms the admiring and somewhat celebratory tone of his earlier works as he describes the making of the 2015 film Irrational Man. From script writing to market distribution, Lax observes Allen's actions and attitudes, quoting him extensively. Detailed treatments of the director's controlling work and power in every aspect of the task—writing the script, finding money, hiring actors and production workers, visiting and picking locations, designing sets, determining camera angles, and selecting music—are interspersed throughout the narrative. Allen's delight and caring for the person and performance of starring actress Emma Stone as Jill, the wide-eyed student, seems to eclipse his excitement over somber Joaquin Phoenix as Abe, the philosophy professor and existentially inclined murderer. In conclusion, Allen nods to the existence of the binge-watching experience on the small screen and looks in that direction.