Directed by:
Woody AllenScreenplay:
Woody AllenCinematography:
Sven NykvistCast:
Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Alan Alda, Claire Bloom, Caroline Aaron, Anjelica Huston, Sam Waterston, Mia Farrow, Jerry Orbach, Jerry Zaks, Frances Conroy (more)Plots(1)
Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) is an idealistic filmmaker until he's offered a lucrative job shooting a flattering profile of a pompous TV producer (Alan Alda). Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau) is the pillar of his community until he learns that his ex-mistress (Anjelica Huston) plans to expose his financial and extramarital misdeeds. As Cliff chooses between integrity and selling out, and Judah decides between the counsel of his rabbi (Sam Waterston) and the murderous advice of his mobster brother (Jerry Orbach), each man must examine his own morality, and make an irrevocable decision that will change everyone's lives forever. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (5)
It isn’t the best or funniest Woody, but it’s Allen just how I like him: thoughtful, truthful, apt and with just the right amount of wit and endearingly skeptical cynicism (as strange as that sounds). The fairy tale about the Statue of Liberty and women should be carved in stone.
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You've seen too many movies. I'm talking about reality. I mean, if you want a happy ending, you should go see a Hollywood movie. The rating is more like 85%, which would mean a remarkable work for any other director, but amidst the collection of Woody Allen's brilliant gems, Crimes and Misdemeanors unfortunately gets lost easily, and for one reason only. This time, he decided a bit unfortunately to divide the serious and light mood into two interconnected storylines, where the humorous one works, thanks to Woody's classic neurotic-romantic touch and the classic fateful woman beautifully portrayed, of course, by Mia Farrow, as well as the charming Alan Alda in their first collaboration. The problem remains in the serious part, where the director unexpectedly stumbled in his choice of the actor for the main role – Martin Landau is a fine actor, but he disappointed me heavily here, because he overacts and tries to show Judah's emotions too literally. I was rather surprised by how much my beloved Match Point ended up stealing from that thriller part, and yet it is filmed so much better and with more urgency and emphasis. The different crimes and misdemeanors, in that sense, don't work too well.
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There is not a great amount of directorial ideas, but Crimes and Misdemeanors is wonderfully intimate and human, it’s believable, and you can feel exactly what they are trying to say. Life just isn't always fun, and quite often it's a pretty mean bitch that makes you do things you never thought you would do. This film mainly shows this fact in two very different men in different situations, one of them brilliantly portrayed by Martin Landau, the other by the writer/director. Alan Alda was also excellent, playing a completely opposite character to the one he played in Sweet Liberty, three years earlier, where he was deposed by director Michael Caine as the author of the film's draft. And he obviously played it with gusto.
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A waste of talent. Normally I would have thought that a serious satire containing themes of murder and tragic love would flourish in Allen's hands as much as a futuristic sci-fi or romantic comedy, but the story is full of empty dialogue and descends into a whirlwind of philosophical drivel that doesn't fit the whole at all. I appreciate what Allen is trying to convey, but I’ve never seen him this boring before. And not even all those great actors can change that. 60%
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The darker Woody Allen is different after all. He is a man who turns more inward and explores the darkness that may lie within. And it's not just his inner self; it's the inner self of all of us. But it's still Woody Allen, who is still extremely good and will keep you entertained. Just in a different way, and perhaps it will make us think about it a little more.
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