Diagonaldi Very well executed

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Vinny37 Crime & Punishment – Dostoyevsky – 1998 film (Dir. Joseph Sargent)The film focus is on Rodya, a young atheist student who mixes social idealism (a theological given) with delusions of grandeur. He perceives that morality is an absolute, yet entertains the idea that it is purely social and that he himself is above the moral law "like Napoleon". At one stage he risks his life to save two unknown children; late he murders two known women (intentionally, evil Alena, & unintentionally, her good sister, Elizaveta) in his anger against injustice & desperation to get Alena's ill-gotten gold to save his sister (Dounia) from an economic marriage he fears.To a large extent the story follows the aftermath of his murders. It never successfully comes to a point where he repents of murdering the old parasitical crone Alena, although her dying has haunted him. He slides into paranoia and away from his former idealism, though still acts as benefactor to the Marmeladov family. His self-belief (supermen don't get caught) has been shaken, and the police chief (Porfiry) investigating the sisters' murders perturbs him. (I felt it unclear whether Porfiry wishes Rodya an unalloyed "get it off your chest" wellness, or also has a greedy eye for stolen gold. Indeed I felt a number of loose ends were left. This encourages one to read the book!)Spiritually drowning, "a monster", Rodya asks Sonia Marmeladova to help him resurface through a Lazarus' experience (cf. John ch.11). She, earlier forced into prostitution to feed her family, has had a Bible given by Elizaveta, and believes that God alone, or at least Faith alone, can save Rodya, whom she is deeply gratefully to, and probably would marry for love. She says that repentance leading to confession of his crime, inviting civil punishment, is the key to saving his soul. If he will dare this road, she will walk with him "to the ends of the earth" – they end up in a Siberian prison camp, he a prisoner, she a nurse.In the camp a chaplain raises the cry, "Christ is risen". Russian Orthodoxy was a key element in Russian society, yet it is probably true to say that Rodya's salvation is merely of the soul (psyche), not quite of the spirit. Still a movement in the right direction. Human loves can reflect (the Sonia factor), and thus point to, transcendent love, though in themselves become demonic as the murders show (the Alena factor).Issues such as class divides, the problem of pain within theism, and morality as transcendent vs mere convenience, are hinted at but not fully explored. The acting is good, though a message rather than story is the focus. There are interesting subplots & characters: Dounia's former co-employer (Arkady) is besotted by her simple beauty, and while prepared to betray his wife is not prepared to rape, ending his own life in his despair in failing to win her love which he imagined would give his life meaning – Dounia lovingly marries Dimitri (aka 'Reason'), her brother's best friend and a nephew to Porfiry.

Daniel (TheEternalCrow) A crime causes much grief and guilt for the young idealist Rodya Raskonlnikov (Dempsey) who cannot come around to confess his offense.Beginning with the positives, Crime and Punishment has a fairly powerful cast with the exception of Patrick Dempsey. Julie Delpy plays an excellent Sonia, and Ben Kingsley could not have done a better Porfiry. The cast were great for their parts, unfortunately the actual movie wasn't too great in terms of quality film-making.Without knowing any prior history to the movie (or the book for that matter), one can easily see that this was made for TV. The cheesy "spacing out" effects only used in TV are an abundance in Crime and Punishment. It is most noticeable in Rodya's moments of despair and depression. The overall impression of this version of Crime and Punishment is much more different than what I saw in my mind while reading the book. The words in the novel are dark, gritty, and full of heart. The movie is very simple and it's almost always in broad daylight! If anything, all scenes should be shot in nighttime 99% of the time since darkness relatively symbolizes desperation and grim moments. Patrick Dempsey, as much of a sweetheart as he is, is NOT Rodya Raskolnikov. Rodya is a rough man, not a pansy. This was a complete casting error that ruined his character's complexity entirely. For what it's worth, Crime and Punishment makes for a decent straight-to-television movie. If one is looking for justice to the book, let your imagination run wild. After all, an imagination is a much more powerful tool than a cheesy television film. Too much was changed in the transition from the book to the little screen. That was the crime. Watching this as a faithful Dostoyevski fan was the punishment.

palomnik The key parts of Dostoyevsky's novel are either missing, or are so badly twisted, that I found myself laughing hysterically throughout this movie. There were a couple of good casting choices, and some good sets, but otherwise, it is a complete wash. This movie completely misses the points of Dostoyevsky, but it isn't too clear on it's Russian setting either. The poor cast is made to deliver the English dialog with bad Russian accents. The movie opens with Raskolnikov trying to assassinate Tsar Nicholas II and Tsaritsa Alexandra as they are leaving a church! (only 60 years too soon and completely destroys the subsequent plot assumptions). Key scenes such as Sonia's Father's speech to Raskolnikov (in which is contained the main theme of the work) are gone. What is meant to be a scene in which Raskolnikov and Sonia experience profound repentance, grace and forgiveness during the reading of the gospel story of Lazarus, is twisted: Sonia reads one sentence of the Gospel (tossing aside the theme), and then it turns into a big kiss moment instead. Avoid this one like the plague!

emb-6 Between the bad accents, the horrible directing, and the predominantly bad acting, it couldn't be any worse. Even poor Richard Bremmer didn't look good trying to act while using that rotten Russian accent. Skip this one.