Horrified by ageing - and even more horrified by what comes after that - Woody Allen told the Guardian: ''Getting involved in a movie [occupies] all my anxiety: did I write a good scene for Cate Blanchett? If I wasn't concentrated on that, I'd be thinking of larger issues. And those are unresolvable, and you're checkmated whichever way you go.''

While one would never be so bold as to equate the life-affirming neuroses of Manhattan or Vicky Cristina Barcelona with the latest scenario playing out in Canberra … there are some striking similarities between an Allen film and a week in Parliament. Along with the well-established plot formulae (hey look, it's a marriage/budget going through some issues) and recurring cast members (Judy Davis/Wayne Swan, again!), both have the propensity to pick things apart. Or to put it another way: get swallowed up by rampant minutiae. See it in the increasingly mind-noodling behaviour in question time.

This week, for example, both sides have been gripped by the question of who has the biggest ''black hole'' and what deeds of hypothetical bastardry the other is going to do to ordinary Australian workers, families and working families in order to fill it.

We've had Joe Hockey accusing Swan of misleading Parliament and Anthony Albanese on Tony Abbott's case for the same. Swanny says he didn't read from a document in question time, but Hockey has a photo that he reckons shows otherwise.

Meanwhile, Albo argues Abbott's alibi that he read the BHP Olympic Dam statement at 3.45pm on August 22 doesn't stack up.

Everyone has also been flat on the Freud chaise, analysing what happened at Sydney University in 1977. Did Abbott throw a punch near ''chairthing'' Barbara Ramjan after she beat him in the SRC elections? Or is there a dirt unit doing the dirty on the student politician turned Opposition Leader?

Either way, what precious insight does this give us about the kind of prime minister Abbott would make today? If he had to swing a punch for Australia, would he hit the wall or a person? Does Abbott have a woman problem? Or do women have an Abbott problem?

Following so soon after the rebooted claims about Julia Gillard's time at Slater and Gordon - it also begs the question: how much should we really care about our leaders' distant pasts? Is it relevant or just self-indulgent and distracting to ''obsess'' (as Abbott describes it) about MPs' youthful actions in more ''robust'' times?

It would be an odd logic to scrutinise the (alleged) follies of our MPs before they entered Parliament to the point where no one was able to either a) make mistakes when they were young or b) be elected because their lives were not flawless.

Of course, speaking of blasts from the past, on Wednesday evening we were treated to a return of the Rudd. On 7.30, Kevin Rudd gave his first TV interview since the February leadership dramedy. Beamed in from Tianjin, Rudd began with some relatively neutral chat about foreign investment, the Chinese economy and Queensland. He then explained that he was out, being seen and heard, because he had a ''responsibility'' to ''argue the case''. The former prime minister also opined that Labor could ''prevail'' at the next election. But had to be heavily prompted - with the interview equivalent of a hot poker - until he clarified that Labor could do this with Julia Gillard.

The very next day, a bevy of government honchos told the analysts to move along; there was nothing to see here. Minister for Trawlers Tony Burke stated there was no evidence Kevin was seeking the leadership again: ''I really think this is overanalysing it,'' he said. Is it?

In an opening scene of Allen's new movie To Rome With Love, a cheery Italian traffic cop tells us: ''In Roma, all is a story.'' A similar pronouncement could also apply to Rudd.

His recent appearances have all the hallmarks of his modus operandi in the lead-up to February: using his official capacity (as foreign minister or local member) to ''legitimately'' pop up everywhere, while making subtext-laden comments about his ''support'' for Gillard and his future plans (be it ''I'm very happy being the foreign minister'' or this week's ''my voice won't be silenced'').

We are often guilty of burying ourselves in political overanalysis at the expense of the larger issues. But one can never be too Woody Allen when it comes to Kevin Rudd.

Judith Ireland is a Canberra Times journalist.