Melinda and Melinda

How this film uses it

Radha Mitchell plays Melinda in both versions. In the tragic one she is a divorced friend who loses her chance to see her children and sees her friends betray her. In the comic one she is a neighbor who has overdosed and ends up kissing the hero. Each telling makes the other feel sadder or funnier.

Where to see it

The two versions of Melinda's arrival. In one she is a guest at a dinner party, and in the other she shows up at the neighbors' apartment after taking pills.

How this film uses it

The two stories rhyme on purpose. Each has a pianist, Ellis Moonsong in the tragedy and Billy Wheeler in the comedy, and each has a window scene. In the tragedy Melinda threatens to jump, and in the comedy Stacey tries to. The same image comes back with the mood reversed.

Where to see it

The window scenes. In the tragic version Ellis stops Melinda from jumping, and in the comic version Hobie stops Stacey.

How this film uses it

The dinner at a Manhattan restaurant starts with a debate about whether life is comic or tragic. Max tells the tragic version and Sy tells the comic one. The film never picks a winner, and the friends end by saying you should enjoy both kinds of moments.

Where to see it

The opening dinner. Four friends debate comedy against tragedy, and one of them tells a true story that the two playwrights then retell.

How this film uses it

The same setup gives you a very different film depending on who is telling it. One writer sees a woman destroying a household, and the other sees a mess that ends in romance. You realize genre says as much about the teller as about the events.

Where to see it

The comic ending. Hobie finds Melinda outside his apartment, they confess their feelings and kiss.