Rating: 
Summary: Choose your life
Review: I've watched Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" perhaps 10 times since the movie was released. I consider it an outstanding film for several reasons. First, the underlying moral questions are profound. See the flashback scene, for example, to the Seder dinner. Listen to the conversation and reflect on the questions raised. Second, the acting is superb, especially by Landau and Houston, but all the characters are memorable. Third, the dialogue combines humor and seriousness is a way rarely seen in American films. Fourth, the sound track is refreshingly sophisticated, combining big band classics with Schubert. Fifth, the construction of the story is well-balanced, juxtaposing different characters and their dilemmas, but always moving toward the ending. This is no "Hollywood Movie." Wm. Paul McKane
Rating:
Summary: TEN STARS
Review: This is my favorite fil of all time!
Two elements combine magnificently to create this masterpiece: the script and the actors.
The director does a fine job, but mostly by restraining himself so as not to distract from the story, the dialogue, and the characters. I know some people see this as an argument against God's existance and therefore feel a pious need to trash it. I would argue, however, that it is no such thing. There have been enough movies about how the universe tends to right the wrongs of human design, the fact is that doesn't always happen, ON THIS EARTH. To say that there is no divine hand guiding the lives of people who sail through this mortal existance is not necasserily an argument that there is no divine hand at all. This and films like it (the Seventh Seal comes to mind) are more about the truth of the human condition than the truth of the divine condition. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people, many times good things happen to you BECAUSE you're bad, and vice-verse. Ideally, the righteous are rewarded and the evil punished, but we do not live in an ideal world. Unfortunatley, film and literature are not resplendent with the truth of this reality. The meek have yet to inherit the earth, and that's exactly what this movie is about. It does not argue atheism, it represents human experience and presents to us the very real temptation to lose hope, but it ends with a plea from beyond the grave (the grave of someone who did lose hope) that we have faith in the small joys of life and look forward with optimism. Why should we retain hope? Because the triumph of the human spirit is that we continue to move forward, and hopefully we learn from past mistakes and our posterity may yet find that extra happiness which eluded us.
Enough postulation about God and Atheism, this is a fantastic movie. Martin Landau's performance is the greatest ever preserved on celluloid, coupled with his performance on "Ed Wood", I would argue that he is the greatest actor of the twentieth century!
Do your self a favor and watch this film, examine life and ask yourself what it means.
Thank you, Woody.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great Woody Allen Film
Review: This is one of the only movies that I can actualy say is a favorite. It has comedy, deep ethical dilemmas, character development, everything. Some of the comedy must be subtler than I though at first, because as I get older (I first saw it when it first came out, like 10 years ago or something) I laugh more and more at some of the smallest things.
I would recommend this to anyone, even those who don't like Woody.
Rating: 
Summary: Choices
Review: This is a movie about the wrong choices that people make in their lives. There are many things that make this a near-great movie. One of them is how the players weave in and out of each other's lives. Although the movie takes place in New York City, we see very few people outside of the cast. This gives a sense of intimacy that would be hard to achieve if the movie was handled differently. The characters are all confronted with opportunities to do the wrong thing and we see how they fare with their various choices. The main character is a well-respected eye doctor who is experiencing difficulties with his mistress of two years (a poor choice from the past). His effort to deal with this "problem" leads to the extreme example of poor choices. Other characters choose to have affairs which are shown in various levels of detail; some we witness, some we just hear about. Ironically, the second worst thing that happens to someone in the movie occurs when the Rabbi goes blind. He speaks out for making the right choices but receives no apparent reward in return. Is this possibly a suggestion that God, in his mercy, sometimes makes wrong choices? One individual, who we observe through the interesting perspective of documentary film clips, offers great wisdom and perspective and then makes the worst choice of anyone. There are other choices and other mistakes culminating with a finale that shows us that the only people who are happy are those who either shouldn't be happy or, as we can see, will soon be very unhappy with their latest choice. The movie makes the case for some of the wrong choices that are made. At least enough of a case that we, the audience, must decide for ourselves. All this is assisted by excellent acting. It's not a movie for everyone. I started watching it with my 10 year old in the room. I'm not sure if he appreciated what he was able to see before it was his bed time. However, he did ask me the next day if the doctor's wife ever found out about his affair. There is definitely humor in the movie, especially the glimpse of the documentary Woody Allen was making about his brother-in-law. That documentary was another example of a poor choice that was made. You would make a wise choice if you decided to watch this movie.
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