Woody Allen’s new movie, a drama starring Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and Parker Posey, has a name. It’s called “Irrational Man” and will be released by Sony Pictures Classics probably this summer.
There’s no other information, but “Irrational Man” is the title of a famous study in existential philosophy by William Barrett, published in 1958. Barrett discusses the works of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre in detail. Barrett was so hugely influential that the great Walker Percy named his lead character in two novels for him. (If you’ve never read Walker Percy, now is the time.)
Woody told me last summer when I interviewed him for the New York Observer that he was just stunned by Phoenix as an actor. He also had fallen in love with Parker Posey. Emma Stone, obviously, is already among his favorite actors.
I have a feeling “Irrational Man” will run along the lines of “Match Point” and “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” and maybe “Blue Jasmine.” We’ll wait with anticipation and see.
