Melinda and Melinda combines romantic comedy and drama in a way that Woody Allen, unique among filmmakers, likes to contrast. It takes place in Manhattan and chronicles a pair of crises that give great rein to the funny and serious talents of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Ferrell, Jonny Lee Miller, Radha Mitchell, Amanda Peet, Chloë Sevigny and Wallace Shawn. All the usual Allen areas are explained—the fragility of love, marital infidelity, sophisticated romance, the inability to communicate. As a character in the movie puts it, "He's despondent, he's desperate, he's suicidal. All the comic elements are in place".
The Fox Searchlight Pictures Presentation "MELINDA AND MELINDA" is written and directed by Woody Allen and produced by Letty Aronson. The Executive Producer is Stephen Tenenbaum. The Co-executive producers are Jack Rollins and Charles H. Joffe. The Co-producer is Helen Robin. The creative team includes Director of Photography Vilmos Zsigmond, A.S.C., Production Designer Santo Loquasto, Editor Alisa Lepselter and Costume Designer Judy Ruskin Howell. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Ferrell, Jonny Lee Miller, Radha Mitchell, Amanda Peet, Chloë Sevigny, and Wallace Shawn.