Crimes and Misdemeanors

This movie is divided into two story lines : on one hand, a very lighthearted, boring, cringeworthy rom-com , and on the other a very serious drama that brings depth to the scenario, even though the pseudo intellectualism and excess of religious references can irritate some. It's hard anyway to understand this association and draw a parallel between these two quite uneven story lines that seem to have a lot in common and that, unusually for Woody Allen, are not intertwined like one would've expected. Ultimately, Crimes and Misdemeanors is not a bad movie but it clearly lacks coherence and suffers from a more than questionable mix of genre.

If one is going to merge two short films together, one should at least establish stronger links between them (a tenuous one in the form of a blind Rabbi simply does not suffice). Yet Woody Allen is evidently content with the near-terminal drudgery of his screenplay as he directs his duel tale of existentialist infidelity and Jewish despondency. To give you a brief overview of these stories, half of the film follows the catastrophic developments of affluent ophthalmologist Judah Rosenthal's (Martin Landau) affair with emotionally volatile stewardess Dolores Paley (Angelica Huston). Dolores wants Judah to annul his marriage to the blissfully ignorant Miriam (Claire Bloom), but Judah is not too keen on the prospect. Unfortunately, Paley is not too keen either on the prospect of Judah just discarding her like a Mark Twain novel and decides to put pressure on her lover. This proves to be an unacuminous move on her part as Judah recruits his brother to annul her metabolic processes. It works, but Judah ends up having moral reservations over the murder. The other half of the film depicts the HI-larious trials and tribulations of frustrated filmmaker Clifford Stern (Woody Allen) as he is forced by his disenchanted wife (Joanna Gleason) to direct a documentary about his successful and impossibly obnoxious brother-in-law Lester (a very amusing Alan Alda). However, Clifford is bewitched by one of the film's producers, a woman named Halley Reed (Mia Farrow). The film, of course, ends with the separate protagonists meeting by happenstance at a wedding reception and engaging in a pseudo- philosophical discussion about the nature of guilt and the unfairness of the universe. And, Allen, of course, has to telegraph his nihilistic leanings by having amoral cad Judah 'walk off into the sunset', as it were, and Lilliputian moralist Clifford look morosely into the camera. An Oscar nominated script, people! It just defies believe that the screenplay for this film was actually nominated for an Academy Award. How exactly can great Gordian farces like 'Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)', 'Kind Hearts and Coronets', 'Nuns on the Run', 'The Dinner Game', and 'Burn After Reading' be snubbed whilst blunderous trite like this gets a top mention? Now, I have always tried to respect the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their encouragement of higher technological and intellectual content in films, but really, the Academy is not doing themselves any favours by blindly bestowing Oscar nominations on venerated screenwriters just because they are venerated. It was bad enough that 'Raging Bull' lost to 'Ordinary People' for Best Picture in 1981 and that 'Miller's Crossing' was all but entirely snubbed during the 1991 Oscars. Thankfully, Woody Allen's sophisticated and intermittently acerbic wit prevents the task of viewing this film from falling into a level of internal haemorrhage inducement. The acting is generally passable, too. And, to Allen's credit, he did make a penance for his sins with 2005's 'Match Point', a true Hitchcockian triumph whose screenplay was deservingly nominated for an Oscar.

This movie is well acted, and Allen has done a good job shifting gears between humor and tragedy. Martin Landau is exceptional as the tormented Opthamologist. Woody Allen is somewhat subdued, and this is far from his best comedic film. I suppose you could say I was disappointed because the comedy is sub-par Allen, and the drama is simply not that engaging. My rating for "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is 5.0. Other Woody Allen films rate far better. "Bananas 8.5, "Everything You Always wanted To Know About Sex" 7.0, 'Love and Death" 8.5, "Take the Money and Run" 8.0, "Play it Again Sam" 8.0, "Sleeper" 7.5, "Annie Hall" 6.5 - MERK

Most would say "Annie Hall", some would say "Manhattan", those who prefer Allen's early career might even mention "Sleeper". Few would call "Crimes and Misdemeanors" Woody Allen's best film as writer/director, but the more I watch it, the more I realize that it's not only my favorite, but in many ways the film Allen was working towards for the entirety of his career as a writer prior to this. In "Crimes and Misdemeanors" Allen revisits a recurring theme in many of his films, adultery. It would be a simplistic and narrow-minded view of this film to say that it was simply about adultery because it is really far more complex than that, and essentially a film about all varieties of human nature and relationships, and one could even argue- the relationship between reality and film as explored through the lens of genre- romantic comedy, Film-Noir, and documentary, and what parts of this film are- satire. "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is one of Allen's best scripts. Any screenplay attempting to accomplish as much as this one does could easily fall apart, and Allen has had less convincing attempts than this one with similar ambitions, but everything works beautifully here. This film practically defines the 'tragicomedy' sub-genre, with neither overpowering the other and much of the humor is dark humor originating in tragedy, something that is acknowledged by Allen through the character of Lester (played to perfection by Alan Alda), who comments that comedy is nothing more than "tragedy plus time". He also mentions that comedy has to have an ending, and that's one of the best things about this movie- Allen allows dramatic scenes to succeed at being dramatic and emotional, then throws a hilarious punchline at you, which has an effect that is both entertaining and somewhat unsettling. This is an expertly-written movie. "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is the culmination of a decade of consistently brilliant, evocative, original, and fascinating films from Woody Allen, whose 80's output I would personally consider to be his best. His 70's work is far more popular, but his 80's work contains some of the most unique and memorable films ever made: "Stardust Memories", "Zelig", "The Purple Rose of Cairo", and "Hannah and Her Sisters", as well as numerous overlooked and generally forgotten films that can only be called excellent, such as: "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy", "Broadway Danny Rose", "Radio Days", "September", and "Another Woman". On top of all these memorable films is "Crimes and Misdemeanors", which is simply my favorite Woody Allen film and almost certainly his best and most focused effort. 10/10

"Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989)- is Woody Allen's masterpiece and my favorite film. It is urban and sophisticated, subtle and cruel. It is darker than dark and self-ironic. It is profound and touchingly poignant. It is deadly serious and in the same time it is incredibly funny. Its humor is razor sharp and sparkling and the best and funniest Woody's one-liners and comic performances belong here. As always in his best films, Allen had created a clever and elegant film out of his own weaknesses and insecurities and it shines. How much was Allen able to meditate on life, death, God, religion, morality, crimes and the responsibility, love and lust, happiness and the price one pays for it, and among those eternal subjects - how much fun it is to skip work or school and to sneak to the movies. It is universal. It has the references to many Artists and cultures - Chekhov, Dostoyevsky, and Bergman among the others but it is so undeniably and uniquely Allen. It could not have been made by any other director. It is the movie Allen will be remembered for.

Not much has to be said. This is an outstanding film, possibly one of the best films I have ever seen. All performances are perfect. Half drama, half comedy, and that very well done. It has deep thoughts about quilt and mistakes, lots of truth about relationships. It has laughs and a perfect ending. Every time I watch this film I just want to sit down and write, just write something interesting to leave behind. The film is already 16 yrs old and you wont notice that at all, it's one of those films that never age. I would recommend this movie to anyone who doesn't want to spend another two hours of his life watching yet another Hollywood crap.

When I registered with the IMDb, one of the survey questions asked what my favorite film was. I listed Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors. I don't know if this is always true, but for the most part I feel fairly confident regarding my choice. Allen's story here works, like most well written literature, on many levels. It is funny (Woody's lessons), symbolic (the Rabbi going blind), ironic (the good suffer and the evil go unpunished), deep (faith and suicide), and is a film that leaves you with something to identify with and learn from. Even Hally Reed's (Mia Farrow) surprising revelation at the end of the film, which I won't reveal of course, shows us a bit about the dangers of prejudging others. Woody shows us that we shouldn't judge on the surface, but must look deeper into the individual value of people. Do we trust Hally, or do we stick to what we see as the truth about Lester (Alan Alda)? This is a lesson that Woody's character, Cliff, doesn't even fully grasp at the end of the film, but Allen gives us the insight, even though what Hally reveals about Lester goes against what we've seen of him. Crimes and Misdemeanors is certainly not for all tastes. It's not exactly a film that people would watch for pure escapism. This is a film to be treasured, revisited and held up with some of the greatest films of all time. Not for how it looks or sounds, but for what it says. This is a film aimed at both the heart and the mind and succeeds in capturing both.

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Trailer—Crimes and Misdemeanors

Crimes and Misdemeanors