Crimes and Misdemeanors

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Summary: Is Woody Religious?
Review: Woody Allen is the most deeply religious of movie directors; He just doesn't know it yet.

"Crimes and Misdemeanors" (an obvious nod to Fyodor Dostoyevsky) is Allen's most engrossing quest for moral order in the universe, which quest leaves him -- and the viewer -- utterly bereft.

However, unlike the bleak "Interiors" or Allen's hilarious send-up on impending death being the impetus for finding God in "Hannah and Her Sisters," Allen's treatment of God, morality and free will is multi-faceted, and doesn't come to any pat answers.

In fact, it is Allen's ambivalent contemplation of religion and ethics that conservative critics find lacking at best, or disingenuous at worst. I see it differently: Agree or disagree with him, Allen is an atheist who is nonetheless tormented by the conclusion he has reached that there is no God. His is no knee-jerk atheism, as he has clearly thought through the philosophical issues involved, wavering between Nietzschean will to power and outright denial, to existentialist reluctance in the face of the ultimate meaningless of life beyond the here-and-now.

"Crimes and Misdemeanors" is peopled by a sterling cast, whose lives and choices are in direct conflict and contrast with one another; Yet, all speak with one voice, in Allen's exquisitely economical and pointed dialogue.

Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau, in the role of a lifetime, so perfectly is the dialogue tailored to his cadence of voice and gestures), like Job, is a man who has everything he could ever want. Unlike Job, when he sees his wealth and seemingly ideal family life (with wife Claire Bloom) jeopardized, he turns his back on God.

The catalyst for Judah's life crisis is Dolores (Angelica Huston), a lonely airline stewardress with whom he's having more than a fling. When Dolores realises that she means nothing more to Judah than a mistress, and that his marital overtures to her were hollow, she turns on him with neurotic vengeance, threatening to expose not only their affair, but Judah's shady financial dealings.

Frozen by fear of exposure, Judah turns to his rabbi (played by Sam Waterston) for advice. As wise as the advice is, it leaves too much to chance, that Judah can still indeed face exposure, shame and ruin. So, then he calls on his hit-man brother (Jerry Orbach) to quietly make Dolores -- and all Judah's problems -- disappear.

And they *do* disappear, but with one hitch: Judah is suddenly consumed with guilt, and the one distant God now appears to haunt him and watch his every move. It is interesting watching Judah as he tries to reconcile his amoral crime with his ambivalent beliefs towards the Almighty. The scene in which he visits his childhood home in New Jersey brings back ghosts from his past, and we see his relatives sitting around the Seder table, in heated debate over the existence of God and the search for a moral order in the universe. Being a Woody Allen movie, of course the nasal aunt who dismisses God as a childish fantasy -- given the evidence that He did nothing to stop the Holocaust -- wins the day, thus influencing the adolescent Judah, who is being watched by the older Judah, an invisible prescence within the dining room.

Two other plot threads run alternately hilarious/serious: Allen co-stars as Clifford Stern, an independent filmmaker, who lives on the financial and emotional handouts from his sexually barren wife. When she arranges for him to film the life of her brother, Lester, a successful commercial TV producer played by Alan Alda (whose sleazy character is a cross between Norman Lear and Ted Turner), Clifford bristles at Lester's shallowness. Things get wilder as Cliff tries to woo Halley (played by Mia Farrow), a public TV producer. Meanwhile, Halley -- who at first brushes off Lester's slick advances -- starts being attracted to Lester.

Meanwhile, Clifford is filming the life story of a philosopher of positive thinking, Holocaust survivor Dr. Levy. When the professor turns negative and commits suicide (and Halley simultaneously throws Cliff over for the boorish Lester), Clifford concludes that there is nothing but random moral choas, and that indeed -- echoing Nietzsche -- God is dead.

The movie ends with Clifford and Judah meeting at the wedding of Rabbi Ben's daughter. The Rabbi has now gone fully blind, despite Judah's attempts to restore his eyesight. Yet, Judah observes, the guilt over Dolores' murder have dissipated, and confides hypothetically to Clifford that life can indeed be good for a murderer, provided he feel no moral guilt for his crimes, and that morality is but an impediment to fruitful living. After all, he notes, his family life and fortune have been restored to him, and that the idea of retributive justice being doled out by God is a fairy tale, a figment of imagination.

The conclusion is that we are each responsible for our own actions and our own lives. Yet, Allen makes one huge error in logic: If there is no God, he seems to imply, and if there is no moral order to the universe, then there is no moral or ethical impediment to murdering one's fellows. Is this Allen's tacit acknowledgement of the supernatural, or is he backing up Nietzsche's notion that morality was only invented to keep lesser men from running amok, that the common mass needs laws because they are incapable of rational judgment? It seems here that Allen is making the case for utter nihilism. So, why is he a liberal on the political spectrum, liberalism being a philosophy that holds democratic action and altruism as its moral center? Is Allen making a sotto voce case for fascism?

Truthfully, I don't think he's doing the latter. Nonetheless, it is refreshing to see an atheist give so much thought and obvious private anguish to the question of God. If only the faithful did, there'd be less wanton violence commited in His name.

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Summary: Thought Provoking and Humorous.
Review: ~Crimes and Misdemeanors~ is one of Woody Allen's more acclaimed motion pictures. Not since 'Hannah and Her Sisters' had the critics as well as the American public gave it the attention and praise that most of his films deserve. Allen has commented many times that people in his native land, generally, stay away from his pictures in droves. In fact, he has also said, that aside from a small American following, and a substantial European audience, he'd be out of business completely. ~Crimes~ is a unique and decidedly intelligent film that addresses some weighty religious, philosophical and psychological questions, and still managed to gain attention and sell a few tickets at the American box office.

Martin Landau (who won an Oscar for Best Actor) plays Judas - a successful optician caught at the receiving end of his mistresses (Angelica Huston) neurotic threats of revealing their two-year love affair to his wife and the world. Judas's dilemma peaks when his mistress, in a last ditch effort to get him back, threatens to reveal some unscrupulous business dealings in his past. Offers of money and pleas for forgiveness work to no avail until Judas is compelled to do something drastic. The man created two lives, and one is about to destroy the other. He decides to contact his long lost unscrupulous brother, and rationalize that the only way to solve the problem is to fix the mistress - permanently. (Crime)

Woody Allen plays an unhappily married, frustrated documentary filmmaker. Pitted against his egotistical and successful filmmaker brother-in-law (Alan Alda) who hires him to make a biographical documentary about his life. It is here that the Allen character entertains the idea of having an affair with one of the producers, (Mia Farrow) and makes some feeble efforts to do so but the affair is doomed to failure. (Misdemeanor)

This film is about making ethical choices in one's life and the various ways one can deal with the consequences of those choices. What is right and wrong? When one transgresses against what one perceives as ethical behaviour, personally and socially, is it human nature to justify and rationalize the transgression to the point where life is bearable enough to continue? Is our behaviour monitored by an all-seeing-eye, God, and at the end of our lives, will we be brought into account for our transgressions? In other words, is there divine justice? Is it 'only in the movies' that a murderer would turn themselves into the police, confront the evil deed, and assume responsibility?

The genius of this film is its ability to address these philosophical and psychological issues and tell it in a manner that is thought provoking, humorous and entertaining all at the same time.

This DVD would be a valuable addition to any serious film lover's collection, whether a fan of Woody Allen or not.

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Summary: situational ethics under scrutiny
Review: I had read only great reviews about this film from all quarters, and then was asked to teach it to high school students. It was in this context that I discovered how all pieces of this amazing film fit together--no mean feat since it combines New York stories, autobiogrpahical in-jokes, a scathing critique of the film industry, murder, religious idealism, and glances into the existentialist abyss. This is an essential work for any serious collector, whether or not you like Woody Allen.

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Summary: Near The Top Of The 'Woody List'
Review: Crimes and Misdemeanors is my favorite of Woody Allen's dramas and it is a drama. If you're looking for pure comedy, look elsewhere. There is funny stuff here, but this is something different.

Woody is wonderful as usual but he steps back and gives center stage to Alan Alda & Martin Landau who are magnificent. I never get tired of seeing Landau at work and his tortured character making (or not) impossible decisions in impossible situations is seeing a master at work. Maybe the standout performance here though is turned in by Anjelica Huston, playing the extremely dramatic girlfriend of Landau.

This is so good that for once it's even easy to ignore Mia Farrow and her usual wooden, flat and standard performance. Don't miss out on this excellent film from a master of his craft.

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Summary: TRAGEDY MEETS COMEDY IN ONE OF WOODY'S FINEST FILMS
Review: Perhaps Woody Allen's finest writing and directing, rich in irony, symbolism and impeccably well-crafted characters. It is amazing to watch how Woody moves back and forth between two separate storylines (a first very dark and sinister plot starring Martin Landau...and a second comedic tale with Woody, Mia Farrow and Alan Alda) and ingeniously brings together all of the major characters from both stories to interact in the film's final scene. Woody's writing in the scenes starring Sam Waterston (who portrays a priest who is gradually losing his eyesight)and Landau (who plays Waterston's eye surgeon and a character whose choices are leading him into a kind of moral blindness) is especially prolific and insightful.

This is a film with tragic overtones contrasting with some of the funniest scenes of Woody's writing and directing career. Not to be missed...it grows richer with every viewing.

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Summary: let's face it, IT STINKS!!!
Review: Woody Allen would go on to make even worse films than this one, i.e. pieces of junk such as Mighty Aphrodite, Deconstructing Harry and (possibly most painful of all) Sweet & Lowdown. I have not bothered to see anything of his since the Sean Penn fiasco, and I did not bother to sit through Celebrity.

But it's this soporific clumsy wooden one-dimensional bore wherein Woody's horrifying descent from a great filmmaker into a repellent hack truly began.

The movie pretends to offer great revelations into hevvvvvveee moral issues. But it's all stick figure stuff; you'd have to be incredibly naive to fall for the notion that there's any depth here. To paraphrase Pauline Kael, Woody only tells us what we've already rejected. And so what we're left with is a gallimaufry of maudlin dialogue, which might have sounded more comically ripe if delivered with hell's kitchen-ese: "you donna t'ink dat Gahd sheesh!? Ahvv kahrrss Gahd sheesh!"

So, let's get this brilliant juxtaposition straight: Martin Landau is an eye surgeon of low morals; Sam Waterston is a man of God who's slowly going blind. Oh, Jeez, Woody, that was deep, thaaaaaaaaaank you.

I normally love Anjelica Huston, but she's defeated here by the unsayable lines Woody gives her. I did not notice Claire Bloom's green dress and shoes (terrific review, J Barnes, I just gave you your first helpful vote on that one) but I was struck by how beautiful Mia Farrow's hair looks. She wears it long, something of a departure for her, and it is gorgeous! The character she's supposed to portray, however, is a blank --very peculiar after the great roles Allen had given her up to this film. Sam Waterston, who managed to seem spunky in Interiors, seems about to fall asleep before our very eyes --you can tell he hated this project.

Some of Allen's slighter films from this period, notably Alice and September, play better now than they did a dozen years ago. Not so with Crimes and Misdemeanors, which might be re-christened "Creaking and Unwatchable." The greatest mystery is why so many people seem to value this plodding film as among Woody's highest achievements. The reviewers bestowing 4 and 5 stars on this dreck need to take their high-falutin' talk about morality and watch Stardust Memories. Viewing that film ought to be a nice cold bucket of water doused overhead!

Rating:
Summary: If you want justice, see a Hollywood movie
Review: Woody Allen and an excellent martin Landau occupy opposite poles in this serious and cynical about high crimes and guilt. Landau plays Judah Rosenthal, a prosperous and respected opthamologist who seems to have the perfect life. Angelica Huston plays Dolores, his secret mistress - a stewardess who stole his heart and, when he tried to break things off, forced Judah to turn in desperation to his criminal brother, Jack (Jerry Orbach). Though Jack can offer Judah the ultimate protection from Dolores, Judah has been an essentially honest and upstanding man for most of his life. Agonized by the guilt for an act of murder he put into motion, and with no apparent sign that he will ever be brought to justice, Judah begins to come undone.

Keeping the flick from settling into Judah's performance of self destruction, Allen plays Cliff Stern, another in the long line of losers. Cliff is the ultimate loser - stuck to a wife who has no respect for him, forced to beg for work producing films he can't respect for people he can't stand (who are, of course, much more successful than he is), and pursuing what he must know to be a futile pursuit for the perfect women (Mia Farrow - which dates the material). Cliff divides his time between his professional work, watching old movies and occasionally working on his masterpiece - a documentary based on the life of a famous philosopher of optimism who survived the Holocaust. Nothing goes right for Cliff - he is forced to turn to his brother in-law, Lester (Alan Alda) for work. Lester embodies everything that kills Cliff - mostly how Cliff's power is inversely related to how uninspired a hack he is. Underlying Cliff's almost sheer hatred for Lester, of course, is envy, though Cliff remains too high-minded to admit it. Mia Farrow plays the woman sought by each - more agressively by Cliff, though you know Cliff's cause is lost the moment Farrow appears. The last straw is the subject of Allen's documentary, who shows some obvious signs of having been patterned after Primo Levy , the famed Holocaust survivor and optimist who died years after the war under circumstances suggesting suicide. When Allen's fictitious philosopher ends his life under much less ambiguous circumstances, and having already poisoned things with Lester, Cliff is cast adrift, floating in a melancholy fugue wondering why he's suffering while untalented hacks have all the success. (The script makes clear that Cliff's tormentors will prosper despite themselves, not even leaving Cliff the slightest hint that his efforts will pay off, or that hacks like Lester will get what's coming to them). Allen brilliantly sets up Cliff's predicament while Judah goes to pieces wondering if he'll ever have to face justice for having his lover offed.

This was a great flick - though it feeds Allen's ego as being the creator of a non-Hollywood (read, pure) movie (we must know that nobody is going to get what they deserve, a very non-commercial prospect), it does it magnificently. Cliff is a loser, but Allen doesn't arouse pity for him - we never get the idea that Cliff is a man who would deserve success for his work, or that he does deserve love from anybody. And we also know what Cliff doesn't - that a troubled woman has been murdered by hired killers who will never face justice - which makes his own predicament seem ridiculous. Yet Allen makes Cliff nonetheless sympathetic, building him up to confront Judah in the last few moments of the flick. Finally meeting the for the first time, Cliff and Judah toss out their ideas of justice as if they were talking about a movie. Of course neither tells the other their more personal ideas or fears. By now, Judah has come full circle, and in hashing his simple idea of a guilt-plagued murderer who suddenly wakes up with a clean conscience, Judah has taught himself to distinguish between justice and closure - which is the difference between morality and a dramatic device. Morality will always be open to interpretation, he essentially tells Cliff, but closure is something that exists only within the Hollywood movie.

Rating:
Summary: (much) better than Bergman
Review: Bergman, Schmergman -- give me the *Wood*man, any day. Allen's movies have more than extreme close-ups of exquisitely sensitive people enduring the torture of being oh-so-aware. for example, they have sparkling dialogue and an interesting plot.

Crimes and Misdemeanors, Allen's most mature work, addresses the eternal question plaguing the liberal psyche: is life nothing more than maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain? if so, what? and, how can we know? needless to say, Allen doesn't carve easy answers into tablets of stone; instead, he weaves a mandala-patterned tapestry.

an ophthalmologist (Martin Landau) is treating a rabbi who is going blind. the rabbi is a thoroughly decent man who is hoping to still be able to dance with his daughter at her upcoming wedding. the ophthalmologist is planning to have his mistress (Angelica Houston) killed because she is threatening to expose him to his wife, the IRS, etc. the rabbi winds up blind; the ophthalmologist winds up receiving an award for professional virtue.

meanwhile, a failed documentary maker (played by Allen himself) meets a film editor (Mia Farrow). though he is already married, they find each other perfectly in tune (heh, heh). however, she deflects his amorous attentions in favor of a grossly insensitive, egomaniacal, shallow, intellectually pretentious film producer (Alan Alda) -- who can do wonders for her career.

Allen's character has been trying to finish a documentary about a psychologist/philosopher/Holocaust-survivor who counsels people that, no matter what, life *does* have meaning beyond the pleasure/pain principle. things don't work out too well for him, either. and, Allen's character, playing someone exactly like himself (*except*, without the big time career), winds up all alone in the end -- his 'loveability quotient' notwithstanding. (*now* he tells me!)

i've seen this film 3 times, and will no doubt see it again. seriously thoughtful, yet cleverly entertaining -- filmmaking doesn't get better than this.

Rating:
Summary: Dostoyevsky Updated
Review: A few generations ago, in his novel "Crime and Punishment," Fyodor Dostoyevsky posed the question: can an intelligent and sensitive person commit a murder and escape remorse? The answer he gave was "no." In Crimes and Misdemeanors, Woody Allen revisits this question from a different moral perspective. His conclusion is both chilling and convincing. (It is also unambiguous.)
The premise of a godless and (therefore) morally chaotic universe had always been implicit in Mr. Allen's comedies. In this film he gets serious, presents his moral vision explicitly, and defends it brilliantly. Furthermore, in an extraordinary twist of the knife, a subplot featuring characteristic Allen humor demonstrates that absurd irony and volitional cruelty coexist amicably.
Crimes and Misdemeanors is a breathtaking statement. Thus far, it has been woefully underappreciated.

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Summary: Allen Blends Comedy and Drama to Create a Masterpiece
Review: Woody Allen's most creative film is a masterful blend of romantic comedy and gut-wrenching drama. This is perhaps his best film and certainly should be on anyone's list of top films of the 20th century.
The parallel plots revolve around Clifford Stern (Woody Allen), a struggling documentary filmmaker trying to win a girl (Mia Farrow) away from his successful brother-in-law (Alan Alda), and Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau), a prominent ophthalmologist who has an affair with a depressed stewardess (Angelica Houston). The performances are top-flight by all involved, but especially noteworthy are Allen and Landau, whose work here is probably the best of his career. Sam Waterston does a convincing turn as a Rabbi who provides conscience and counsel for Landau's conflicted character.
Both of the lead characters face a moral dilemma. Will Cliff Stern stay true to his ideals or will he sell out and do a lucrative film about his brother-in-law whom he despises? And will Dr. Rosenthal listen to his father's "voice" and his Rabbi's advice and admit his infidelity or choose a more sinister solution? The answers are revealed in a brilliant closing scene after a chance encounter between the two men.
This film is presented in a pleasing 16:9 widescreen version with excellent picture quality. The sound is mono only, which is true of most of Allen's films. The extras are limited to a trailer and a collectable booklet that features some behind the scenes tidbits from and about Allen.
Allen fans will no doubt add Crimes and Misdemeanors to their list of Woody's best along with Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, and Husbands and Wives. It is a remarkable film and will be remembered as an ambitious project that lived up to its potential in every way.