'Irrational Man': Crime & Academics

Popcorn Column by Michael S. Goldberger

Sony Pictures Classics  Mysterious professor Joaquin Phoenix and bright-eyed co-ed Emma Stone get caught up in routine crimes and misdemeanors in Woody Allen's latest outing.

Each new Woody Allen film is inevitably judged against his body of work. Although generally unfair, it's deserved in the case of "Irrational Man," a dark and brooding meditation on crime, punishment and whatever else the auteur happens to have on his mind. He's good at that ... taking a plot and, in a cinema version of doodling abstractions on a notepad, filling the scenario with all sorts of stuff concerning the human condition.

While this tale about a fabled scalawag of a college philosophy professor doesn't blow us away, it's still time spent with a pretty smart guy.

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But in a minor departure from other films that might one day be feted at a festival devoted to Allen's subpar movies, an exceptionally large portion of the emotions seems to emanate not from the script, but from the Brando-like gesticulations and grimaces of the title player. Joaquin Phoenix's Abe Lucas is that mysterious, oft-speculated subject of entertaining gossip no self-respecting university should be without. There are only questions and no answers. Detractors and boosters alike are sure he knows something very cryptic.

So it only figures that Jill, an altruistic innocent bright enough to be considering graduate school at Oxford after her days at Newport, R.I.'s posh Braylin College, is going to be infatuated with the cause célèbre. Whether it's the honest, enthusiastic curiosity Emma Stone imbues her bright-eyed co-ed with, her well-scrubbed, all-American good looks or a combination thereof, she soon finds crevices in Abe's wall of secrecy.

The two become an item, seen traversing the campus, dawdling in the town coffee shop and strolling the parks forever in animated conversation concerning Kierkegaard, Kant and whomever else real intelligent people discuss. But while Jill's interest may or may not be purely academic, the attention she's getting from the faculty superstar isn't lost on Rita, a married, disconcertingly unfulfilled professor who's been waiting for something to happen. Played by Parker Posey, she makes her intentions plain. She'd run off to Spain with him.

The protagonist's two potential love interests are hence antithetically poised in biblical fashion. Yet at least for starters, the self-admittedly jaded, world-weary philosopher remains committed to his non-involvement policy. After all, everything is absurd, life is a cruel joke to be survived as painlessly as possible, and any stab at romance would be a hypocritical pursuit at best. However, as even Allen's least worthy works are often well written, leave it to him to fashion a hook. The fates intervene.

It happens in a diner when Jill and Abe overhear the lady at the next table tell her tale of woe. A bad judge, a good old boy pal of her ex's, has granted custody of her kids to hubby. She's practically been impoverished by the costs of fighting him. Now, most people would just be saddened by the situation. But not so in the case of hyper-thinking Abe Lucas, who sees every quandary and conundrum as a matter for dissection and categorization. Suddenly Abe is awakened, invigorated and glad to be alive.

DiLego Jewelry to Close After Over 90 Years in Business

By Daniel MatziBerkshires correspondent
05:28AM / Tuesday, May 07, 2024

Sisters Pamela Costine, left, and Cynthia Lamore have been operating the store since their aunts retired in 1987. Both started working in the business as teens.  Lamore's decided it's time to retire. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — DiLego Jewelery Store, the family-owned business that has been a staple of North Adams for nearly a century, will be closing this summer. 

 

The closure was announced on the store's Facebook page late Sunday night, where it immediately drew comments of remembrance and well-wishing.

 

Cindy Lamore, whose great uncle Frank DiLego opened the store on Main Street in the late 1930s, said the shop will cease operations following her retirement, slated for June 30. A 20 percent off Mother's Day sale will begin immediately, with increasing discounts leading up to the closing date.

 

It took Lamore "a couple of years" to reach the decision to close. Witnessing the passing of lifelong friends or their struggles with debilitating illness prompted her to reconsider her priorities, especially considering the extensive time devoted to running a small business. 

 

"You really question what you're waiting for," she reflected.

 

While recognizing that changing consumer habits have led to a decrease in jewelry and watch sales in recent years, Lamore stressed that her decision to close was a personal one. She and her business partner and sister, Pamela Costine, wanted "to do it on our terms," she said.

 

Comments on Facebook praised the store's customer service, and friends, family, and customers alike reminisced about buying jewelry for special occasions, stopping in for watch repairs, and the perennial rite of childhood for many: getting ears pierced.