Crimes and Misdemeanors
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DVD details
Actor: Alan Alda, Bill Bernstein, Caroline Aaron, Claire Bloom, Martin S. BergmannPrimary Contributor: Martin Landau
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 1.85:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1997-11-05
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Crimes and Misdemeanors
DVD Review: Heads you win, tails I lose
Summary: 5 Stars
Allen has said on more than one occasion that he doesn't have the stuff to be a director/writer of the caliber of Bergman or Fellini. But in "Crimes and Misdemeanors" he comes up to the task. The film isn't just one of Allen's best (I'm comfortable with saying it's the very best he's ever made, except for the fact that, because Allen works in at least three genres, it's difficult to compare and contrast his films). In my judgment, it's one of the finest films in American cinema.
The film is really cut from the same cloth as the medieval passion play. It explores themes that involve morality and God. In a godless universe, does it make any sense to talk about right or wrong? In a universe in which there might be a god, but one who's apparently indifferent to us, are we free to act as we wish? Allen's conclusion seems to be not unlike Albert Camus' in The Myth of Sisyphus: the universe may or may not be godless, but it is absurd. Bad guys (as personified by Martin Landau's character) do what they do without apparent retribution or punishment, but may not be easy with their gains. Good guys (as personified by Woody Allen's character) do what they do without apparent reward or acclaim, and may be just as uneasy. Most of us are simply too self-absorbed and witless (Alan Alda's character) to know that, in the end, everybody loses.
A bleak image of human existence, perhaps. But (as in Bergman's worldview), it's lightened by fleeting moments of grace: falling in love, moments of wonderment and happiness, relating to young people. We all may be losers in the end, but that needn't make life totally miserable.
Performances in the film, especially Alan Alda's and Martin Landau's, are superb. The only exception is Angelica Huston's wooden performance. But insofar as she's got to be one of the most overrated actors in the business, one doesn't expect more from her, and thus is never really disappointed.
Easily five stars.
DVD Review: This sort of thing only happens in the movies...
Summary: 5 Stars
Central to this film is the ancient tragic question; is there a higher equalizer for our actions, or do we have to judge ourselves because there is no higher authority and meaning? Woody suggests the latter in the spirit of Sophicles and the Greeks.
Bringing the two stories together at the end with Allen and Landau might be the best scene in Woody's career. In this scene Allen puts a twist on the Greek self-flagualtion and instead gives an ironic 'Hollywood ending'. Doubly ironic since the happily self-absolved man chides the Allen character for being too influenced by the movies... See it for yourself and you'll understand...
This film also has a very artful use of the other theme of 'vision'. As the rabbi has a clear and grateful conscience even while losing his faculty of sight, Mr. Allen brings in very spiritual overtones about satisfaction in life coming from an inward illumination, rather than outward lusts.
One criticism however; the two "big ideas" of the philosophy professor character are actually very tired and decidedly middlebrow retreads - one from Soren Kirkregarrd, and the other from some book called "love Maps".
DVD Review: One of Allen's best films!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of Woody Allen's best films, and for the price of $10 it is a no-brainer to buy it!DVD Review: Morality As A Stumbling Block And Pragmatism As Redemption
Summary: 5 Stars
A great film! Crimes and Misdemeanors is Woody Allen's ultra in-depth exploration (or is it an analysis) of morality, conscience, pragmatism, the all-seeing---or not---eye of G-d, ego, accomplishment, inner identity, secrets, obsession, murder, and above all else the inter-relationships that surround every living person, no matter how much of an island in the ocean that person may think himself to be. Imagine Crime And Punishment set in 1989 Manhattan with the infringement coming against predominantly Jewish ethics and you begin to grasp the outer weave of this equally buoyant and heavy fable. Crime and Misdemeanors is among the most well-cast and thoughtful movies of the entire 1980's.DVD Review: deep and entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
A rare gem. I imagine that Lester is an auto-parody of the real-life Woody - it adds yet another dimension.
Description of Crimes and Misdemeanors
American auteur Woody Allen explores themes of good and evil in this masterful modern-day morality play. When ophthamologist Judah Rosenthal (Oscar-nominated Martin Landau) is threatened with ruin by his mistress if he doesn't marry her, he considers the ultimate solution to his problem: murder. Meanwhile, documentary filmmaker Clifford Stern is faced with an equally heinous moral dilemma: selling out. Allen compares the choices both men make, using a double storyline to brilliantly pair sharp comedy with harrowing drama.Some critics and filmgoers have hailed this 1989 comedy-drama as Woody Allen's best film, and while that's certainly open for debate, a good case can be made that it's the most ambitious and morally complex of Allen's films. It's the kind of movie that provokes heated philosophical debate about the role of God in our lives, the nature of guilt, and the circumstances that would allow a seemingly good, law-abiding family man and successful professional (Martin Landau) to commit a murder with no risk of being caught. Could you live with yourself under those conditions? Allen explores this complicated issue in the context of an extramarital affair that Landau's mistress (Anjelica Huston) threatens to expose, while developing a second story about a documentary filmmaker (Allen) who reluctantly makes a film about his brother-in-law (Alan Alda), a TV sitcom producer whose vanity is seemingly unlimited. From serious crimes to misdemeanors of personal behavior, Allen ties these stories together to create a provocative and unsettling study of divergent moralities and the price we're willing to pay to preserve our personal comfort and happiness. It's a sobering film, but a fascinating and funny one as well, unfolding like a thriller in which the question is not whodunit but rather, would you do it if you knew you could get away with it? --Jeff Shannon
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