Before attending the preview of Irrational Man I had to ask my friend if I could be a feminist and still like Woody Allen.

I wanted her to answer yes because, damn it, I like his films. I’ve always been a fan of his movies and probably always will be because even when he puts out a mediocre film (or two or three) he tends to put out a brilliant one next. Unfortunately this wasn’t one of those. The good news is that his next film should be a winner, Irrational Man being the second ‘mediocre film’ following Blue Jasmine. But even Allen’s mediocre films have their high points, and this film has many.

Plagued by tragedy, philosophy professor Abe Lucas is beginning to think life no longer holds meaning for him. The teachers at his new school overlook his drinking because they’re excited to have a man of his reputation on campus, and the students find him great fodder for gossip. Before too long he begins an affair with one of the teachers and befriends one of his students, both women finding his intensity irresistible. Neither relationship makes him particularly happy, in fact nothing really does, until he and his student-friend, Jill Pollard, overhear someone else’s tragic story at a café. Becoming obsessed with the story, Abe sees his purpose in life, and it involves murder.

It’s a great plot and it lets Allen play with his favourite themes of existence, purpose and randomness, and setting it in a privileged New England university is perfect for Allen’s typical intellectual banter (which he pretty much eludes to as ‘verbal masturbation’ through one of Phoenix’s monologues). But the highlight of this ultimately mediocre film are the two main characters, who are constantly entertaining, brought to life by wonderful performances by Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Parker Posey.

I love seeing what talented actors can do with Allen’s characters, and though they all brought their own personal styles to the roles, it’s Phoenix who is the stand-out for me. It wasn’t only the transformation of his body (could not take my eyes from his sloth-belly for his first 20 minutes on screen) but also of his usual dark edge. It was still there, but he moulded it into something more pliable to accommodate the lightness of the film and the comedic overtones. Now that I’ve seen him play the role, I couldn’t imagine another Abe Lucas.

Would I recommend this film to my friends? I’d tell them it was a mediocre Woody Allen film, but then I’d go on to recommend Joaquin Phoenix’s performance. For most fans, that just might be incentive enough.