Crimes and Misdemeanors

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Summary: The Real Stuff
Review: I've seen them all, and I love them all--but this is my favorite one

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Summary: One of the most significant films of the 20th century
Review: The way in which Allen intertwines the plot the script and the characters of this play is masterfully done. It should become a standard for all high-school students to study. Great for student discussion. How anyone can criticise this as a simple film (as I have read in other reviews) astounds me. To say that of this film would be to say that Shakespeare writes good childrens books. Moral issues aside, the acting performances are first rate combined with subtle humour.

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Summary: A First Rate Effort by one of our Greatest Filmmakers
Review: Allen experiments with form in this movie much as Faulkner did in his novels. The two stories alternate; in one, a distinguished physician deals with his need to rid himself of his increasingly neurotic mistress; in the other, an acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful filmmaker is commissioned to shoot the bio of a television personality whom he despises, who happens to be his brother-in-law. The two tales, one humerous, the other dark, are constructed and contrasted as the film equivalent of counterpoint in music. The stories are deftly woven together at the end in a conclusion that is both apotheosis and catharsis. This film quite simply is remarkable even by Allen's standards, and deserves much more serious study by both critics and the younger generation of filmmakers.

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Summary: The most underrated Woody Allen film
Review: As a huge Woody Allen fan who's been disappointed a few times by his work, I was especially thrilled when I saw this film. It really doesn't seem to get the credit it deserves as a funny and serious examination of some of life's colder realities. It really made me think and laugh, how often can you say that these days? By the way, no Alan Alda fan should miss his brave, subtle, brilliant performance as a narcissistic director.

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Summary: One of Allen's Best
Review: Allen moves alternately from outrageous comedy to poignant morality in this tale of a wealthy doctor who finds himself with a mistress who threatens to tell all unless he leaves his wife. Interwoven with this story is Allen himself, playing an unsuccessful filmmaker directing a documentary on the life of a conceited hollywood producer. Alan Alda is unforgettably hilarious as the hollywood big shot, but Algelica Houston steals the show as the desperate and frazzled mistress. Tight script and appealing characters make this film almost a 'novel on screen'.

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Summary: Sophomoric
Review: Unbelievable soap opera which Allen tries to elevate to high tragedy. The film sinks under the weight of some trite philosophizing, and all-too obvious symbolism: the morally disturbed hero is an optometrist! Ooh, get it? And there is a rabbi who goes ever so symbolically blind. Ah-hah! God is blind! Ho-hum. There is not a single living character in this stupid self-indulgent flick. They are all selfish bores, and that Woody Allen takes them and their empty stupidity seriously is the most tragic thing about this bomb of a movie.

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Summary: Satisfying
Review: The movie gives us two different plots and then having the characters of the two distinct plots meet at the end . The moive is satisfying both in plot and structure but isnt one of Woody's greatest works . All in all , "crimes & misdemeanors" was entertaining and made me think a little about right and wrong.

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Summary: Crime but no time
Review: I think what Allen meant to call this film was "Felonies and Misdemeanors" since a misdemeanor is a crime and the title a little redundant. That aside I think it's his best film, hands down. He managed to pull together his comic and tragic instincts into what is an entertaining and occasionally harrowing declaration of atheism. Not a philosophy everyone agrees with but he doesn't soft-pedal it. The staging of the murder that parallels Allen's romantic misadventures with a TV producer gives Martin Landau the role of a lifetime as a well-meaning physician who profits from an evil act. Great performances all around, especially Jerry Ohrbach as Landau's hoody brother and Allan Alda as a TV impressario who divests Woody of Mia Farrow (something the director probably wishes had happened in real life).

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Summary: A Woody Allen Masterpiece! Don't ignore this movie!
Review: I rate Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" as one of the 10...make that one of the 3 best movies ever made! It's a shame that this film did not stir up more of a buzz upon it's release in 1990, but thankfully it now has a second lease on life via DVD. "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is actually two movies rolled into one, as Allen masterfully intertwines two very different storylines, one a drama of tragic proportions, and the other, a lighter story with some classy comic moments. Thanks to Allen's keen sense of artistry, the two stories converge and successfully come together in the end as a unified whole. In just under 2 hours "Crimes and Misdemeanors" touches on some of the most perplexing questions of human nature, dealing sensitively with matters of ethics, guilt, fidelity, moral relitivism, conscience, and faith in God. The film does not attempt to spoon-feed answers to its audience, but rather raises some heady and important questions for the veiwer to consider,...even about themselves! Veteran actor Martin Landau is outstanding in the part of Judah, the main character of the more dramatic storyline. Landau pumps some real emotion into his character, so much so that you will truly feel his guilt and paranoia in the aftermath of the "crime" refered to in the title. Also very important to the "tragic" section on the film is Sam Waterston in the role of a Rabbi, in many ways this Rabbi is a pivotal chartcter in the story, as his belief in a morally-structered universe is contrasted with Judah's questionable thoughts and actions. Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, and Alan Alda are the stars of the "alternate" storyline, and each is allowed to shine, thanks to Allen's gift for writing witty and fully-realised dialog. In fact the strained relationship between Allen (as an unsuccessful documentary filmmaker) and Alda (as an Aaron Spelling-esque, award winning TV producer) is one of the films many highlights, and Allen's barely-concealed comtempt for his artistic nemesis makes use of Woody's best comic talents. With all of its philosophical implications and brilliant uses of symbolism (something as simple as a car's headlights going out never resonated with so much meaning!) "Crimes and Misdemeanors" would make a great starting point for an ethical or theological bull session, and in fact many Christians and Orthodox Jews have used the film for just that purpose! As the voice-over narration tells us in the films closing moments, "we define ourselves by the choices we have made", and indeed these words come to life as we see the characters onscreen living with the choices that they have made, for better, or for worse. What else can I say, "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is a unique piece of cinema that will untimately challenge the mind, while at the same time keeping the heart deeply entertained! This is the type of cinema that you only get from a master filmmaker like Woody Allen.

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Summary: Dark and Brilliant.
Review: In my mind, this is Allen's blackest film. He plunges the depth of the human existence and finds that there is little redeeming about our lives. Judaic figures like Rabbi Ben and the family father are set up as straw men who argue that God sees everything and that there is a moral center to the universe. The character of Judah, and his actions in the movie, suggest that they were wrong. Their views are also refuted during the Passover seder scene, and later when the philosopher who is so admired commits suicide after writing the simple phrase, "I've gone out the window."

The worldview of "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is not one that I agree with but the excellence of the film is undeniable. The characters come together perfectly and Allen's own role of "loser" is outstanding. There is considerable humor here as well, such as the documentary that is made about Lester [Allen Alda] where he is compared to Mussolini and a bellowing mule. Yet, on the whole, the movie is more bitter than sweet, but it was a great achievement for Allen. This isn't just for diehard fans; everyone could find something fascinating in its 104 minutes.