I followed up Good Night and Good Luck with this one. In case you happened to be in kindergarten the last time it was in theaters: it’s the McCarthy era, and Woody Allen is a small-time grifter who pretends to be the author of works done by people who are victims of the blacklist.

I can only recommend this film for people who are truly fascinated by that era and everything associated with it. For the rest of us, this movie is just two notches too turgid to really maintain our attention. Pathetic result for major character, check. Unlikely love interest with unlikely politics, check. Bad guy who claims he’s serving as a puppet of the system, but who obviously is out for his own self-interest, check.

The best reason to sit through this movie is a wonderfully staged (and highly out of character) denouement. It doesn’t make up for the first 90 minutes.