Crimes and Misdemeanors

1989 "It's about love and reality. Faith and delusion. Good and evil. Success and failure."
7.8| 1h44m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 13 October 1989 Released
Producted By: Orion Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

An ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife, while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated by another woman.

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Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Steineded How sad is this?
Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Andres-Camara I think it's boring, it has no rhythm, it's not interesting. I have seen his film many times. But suddenly it takes us on a new path that is not the case and everything to finish as always. The film is repeated and repeated, we change course, start another movie and end in cross lives.Spoiler: Personally, I do not like anything Woody Allen, sorry, I apologize to everyone in the movies and this movie is not going to be different. I've never seen anything in his movies. Well yes, it makes dialogues better than anyone. I think he was born knowing to do dialogues, but the rest, neither know how to do nor care. I already say the director of photography of the film, Sven Nykvist, in an interview, does not spend time to the camera or the photo and so it comes out. One of his favorite directors is Ingmar Bergman but at least this one if he dedicated time to these sections.At least as happens in real life, the arrogant takes the girl. It's the only thing that has seemed logical and real in the movie. Cynicism on all sides, but selling it as a logical thing.I think that if he had dedicated himself to writing and someone else would have shot the movies he would have won a lot. All you have of genius of the paper, it has of not knowing to direct.
suite92 The Three Acts:The initial tableaux: Ophthalmologist Judah is successful and respected. However, he's been having an affair with Dolores. Dolores wants to bring up the matter with Judah's wife Miriam, and clear the air. Judah would rather not.Cliff is a maker of small films who has little success. His wife Wendy speaks to her brother Lester, who is very successful in Hollywood. She convinces Lester to get Cliff a job filming a biography on Lester. Cliff takes the job in order to fund his own projects.Delineation of conflicts: Lester does not really want Cliff to direct his biography, but he does it as a favor to Wendy. Cliff does not want to do the piece, since he has no respect for Lester's pomposity. Cliff tries to connect with Halley, Lester's producer, in order to get additional funding for his documentary on Professor Levy. Filming Lester being Lester is a grand pain for Cliff.Judah wants to break up with Dolores, but Dolores has other ideas, which include seriously fouling up his personal and professional life. Jack suggests a solution to Judah's problem, but Judah has qualms. Ben, Judah's rabbi and patient, counsels him to take the higher road: let the meeting happen, let disclosure happen, keep a clear conscience. Dolores escalates, so what does Judah do?Resolution: Judah needs to solve his moral, financial, and personal dilemmas. Cliff needs to find his own success, and perhaps reignite his married life.
SnoopyStyle Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau) intercepts a letter from his mistress Dolores Paley (Anjelica Huston) trying to reveal their affair to his wife Miriam (Claire Bloom). Dolores insists that he leave his wife. In desperation, he turns to his brother Jack (Jerry Orbach) who hires a hit-man to kill Dolores. Meanwhile Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) is a lowly documentary filmmaker. His braggart brother-in-law TV producer Lester (Alan Alda) hires him to do a documentary on himself as a favor to Cliff's wife and Lester's sister Wendy (Joanna Gleason). Lester keeps hitting on associate producer Halley Reed (Mia Farrow) while Cliff falls for her. Cliff is miserable with the work and would rather film philosopher Prof. Louis Levy. Halley is of the same mind.Martin Landau is amazing in this. I like his side of the movie a lot. I like Woody's side, too. However I found the split rather distracting. I may want two separate movies out of these stories. Maybe Woody is making a point combining these two stories together. I can guess at the question being posed but at the same time, the point may be too subtle for an idiot like me.
TheLittleSongbird Woody Allen is not everybody's cup of tea, with me while his body of work is not always consistent(but that is true with a lot of directors) much of it is wittily written and insightful as seen with his masterpiece Annie Hall. Crimes and Misdemeanours has everything that is so good about the best of his work. With the subject matter and how the comedy and seriousness is blended Crimes and Misdemeanours is one of Allen's most ambitious, and along with the likes of Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Husbands and Wives and Manhattan it's one of his best too. The look of the film is elegant and hauntingly dark, while the score is jazzy and seductive. The story has some key themes(good and evil and life and death as examples) that are very clearly addressed and dealt with with adroitness and truth. The concept is not an innovative one as such but it's challenging and hugely compelling. And the writing is to thank for that, the humour is wonderfully ironic and very characteristic of the distinctive wise-cracking Allen style, there are references and observations that are sharp and insightful(always one of Allen's strong points as a writer) and they is blended well with a serious tone that is dark and appropriately troubling, the shifts between comedy and drama didn't jar to me. The acting is very good, often outstanding. Woody Allen acts as well as directs and writes and there are no obvious problems with his performance(or his directing), not a likable character by all means but that was the intent. Anjelica Huston doesn't disappoint, nor does Jerry Orbach before his Law and Order days, Sam Waterson and Claire Bloom. Mia Farrow is affecting as well. But the acting honours go to Alan Alda and especially Martin Landau, Alda plays an absolute weasel to perfection while Landau gives a performance that has not only only been matched by his Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's Ed Wood but also one of the greatest performances of any Woody Allen film. All in all, a Woody Allen classic, an example of ambitious done brilliantly. 10/10 Bethany Cox