Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Featured Audience Ratings

• moon r

  
  "Sleeper" was and has been my favorite Allen film, always light, breezy and fun, but I haven't seen them all and now this dark rumination forces me to alter my original opinion. The acceptance here of dark forces roaming the void is unavoidable and comedy becomes ...… More
  "Sleeper" was and has been my favorite Allen film, always light, breezy and fun, but I haven't seen them all and now this dark rumination forces me to alter my original opinion. The acceptance here of dark forces roaming the void is unavoidable and comedy becomes ... disposable, or at best only momentary in a sea of sadness. Must see for Allen fans.

• Alexander D

  
  Woody Allen has taken the exhausting drama we are used to seeing when we turn on drippy television programs, and used those as a device for satire. We get examples of just what he is poking fun at when his character takes relatives of his to the movies. In such scenes, we see and hear… More
  Woody Allen has taken the exhausting drama we are used to seeing when we turn on drippy television programs, and used those as a device for satire. We get examples of just what he is poking fun at when his character takes relatives of his to the movies. In such scenes, we see and hear snippets of black-and-white melodramas with strikingly similar plots to the one in this film itself. Only Woody Allen could have made such a film.

• Spencer S

  
  Somehow this Woody Allen film truly surprised me. There wasn't something I could outright point to and use as an exact example, but this film isn't the conventional Allen film and maybe not a conventional film on its own. Though Allen would later try to fuse comedy and drama… More
  Somehow this Woody Allen film truly surprised me. There wasn't something I could outright point to and use as an exact example, but this film isn't the conventional Allen film and maybe not a conventional film on its own. Though Allen would later try to fuse comedy and drama with his film Melinda and Melinda, he failed in many ways to be poignant with the drama and anything except quirky with the comedy. This film separates the two stories by keeping it between two completely different people and storylines. I think the reason so many people embrace this while not identifying with the bevy of his other work, is that it doesn't always fall into the obscurity category. Allen always makes his films about people and their morals, the way they throw them away for love, money, dreams or keep them and suffer. He recycles plots and characters with ease and that irks some people. This film cannot be replicated, mostly because of the tour de force performance from Martin Landau. Completely unrecognizable from his Oscar winning performance in Ed Wood, Landau is an oddly subtle yet extraordinary character, who lies easily enough to his wife and children while keeping company with an overly dramatic mistress (Huston) who has a dangerous wish to upend his life and reveal his frivolous affair to his do gooder wife. On the other end of the spectrum is Allen's character who is trying to get out of his platonic marriage and is hurt by the actions of a woman he loves but who is spending her time with a man he personally reviles. Much of the comedy belongs to the way Allen's character satirizes Lester (Alda) in a documentary he is making. Alda acts as a pretentious comedic genius who doesn't like being shown in a negative light, and seduces every woman with his fame and greasy persona. Alda is by far the greatest presence in the film and the loudest, while still letting Allen be the grieving martyr. Really, it's not that either storyline is better or less equal to one another, it's that they work so well together to form a film that wrenches a decent emotional response while still relaying the message that all crimes are punished and no evil goes unburdened throughout people's lives, while also showing the comedy in neurotic people's desperation when other people's crimes interfere with their happiness. It's so hauntingly good and yet unspecific that I can take so many meanings from this and be happy with them all. Love this Allen film more than many others.

• Anthony L

  
  Crimes and Misdemeanours threw me a little. It's not exactly the laugh out loud comedy I'd been lead to believe it was. That's the thing with Woody Allen films though, they are comedies of sorts but just because he's associated, doesn't always mean you'll… More
  Crimes and Misdemeanours threw me a little. It's not exactly the laugh out loud comedy I'd been lead to believe it was. That's the thing with Woody Allen films though, they are comedies of sorts but just because he's associated, doesn't always mean you'll laugh! That said, the few times I tittered were due to his lines, some of them are classics, but all in all, I enjoyed the profound but simple message, even though it did at times feel like just another 80's TV film. I love 80's made for TV films though, and to be fair that isn't giving it the credit it deserves - I digress, Crimes and Misdemeanours is a great slice of late 80's/early 90's nostalgia, a great example of how comedy and tragedy go hand in hand, masterfully painted by Woody Allen, a genes in his own right. If you don't like him, you won't like it, if you do, you may like it more than most of his.

• Dan S

  
  A fascinating mash-up of two completely different stories, one considering a family man (Martin Landau) trying to literally bury an extramarital affair he had earlier in his life, while another story concerns a film-maker (Woody Allen) who falls in love with a TV producer (Mia Farrow)… More
  A fascinating mash-up of two completely different stories, one considering a family man (Martin Landau) trying to literally bury an extramarital affair he had earlier in his life, while another story concerns a film-maker (Woody Allen) who falls in love with a TV producer (Mia Farrow) while he is filming a documentary about a self-centered comedian (Alan Alda). It takes a brave, unique director to combine two completely different stories into one film, and somehow give some cohesion to the final product. Unsurprisingly, Allen is that man, as he is not only able to get the tones of each story exactly right, he makes us care for the characters involved thanks to some riveting dialogue sessions and a nice dose of philosophical discussion. Definitely one of Woody's best films.

• Tsubaki S

  
  "A stranger defecated over my sister."

• Lewis C

  
  "Whether it's the Old Testament or Shakespeare, murder will out." Crimes & Misdemeanors is not one of my favorite Woody Allen films. It's a deeply philosophical and clearly very personal story on his part, but it just didn't do much for me. I found it… More
  "Whether it's the Old Testament or Shakespeare, murder will out." Crimes & Misdemeanors is not one of my favorite Woody Allen films. It's a deeply philosophical and clearly very personal story on his part, but it just didn't do much for me. I found it lacking in wit and couldn't get involved in any aspect of the story. It's like a less compelling version of A Serious Man, blended with a more dull version of Manhattan and a helping of Allen's lingering childhood issues from being raised in a religious family and then leaving that path to follow his own way of looking at the universe. Not a pleasing combination, in my opinion.

• Ken S

  
  One of Allen's best dramedies. Great performances all round.

• Randy T

  
  Woody Allen's existential dark comedy about the intertwinings of love and marriage and morality. More than just a platform for gags and innuendos, <i>Crimes and Misdemeanors</i> is about choices and decisions and conclusions. Very intellectual, even for a Woody… More
  Woody Allen's existential dark comedy about the intertwinings of love and marriage and morality. More than just a platform for gags and innuendos, <i>Crimes and Misdemeanors</i> is about choices and decisions and conclusions. Very intellectual, even for a Woody Allen film.

• First L

  
  Woody Allen makes a Coen brothers film, which resembles a cross between Manhattan and A Serious Man (or perhaps even Blood Simple). The plot is woven together in a manner that blends Allen's previous comedies with a more esoteric style of narration, especially in the way he… More
  Woody Allen makes a Coen brothers film, which resembles a cross between Manhattan and A Serious Man (or perhaps even Blood Simple). The plot is woven together in a manner that blends Allen's previous comedies with a more esoteric style of narration, especially in the way he sprinkles symbolism in at the perfect moments. An opthamologist (Martin Landau) is having an affair with a woman (Anjelica Huston) who wants to reveal the whole thing to his wife. She is constantly hounding him like the voice of his conscience. He decides to go to his nefarious brother (Jerry Orbach) with his underworld connections to see what he can do to help. One of the opthamologist's patients is a rabbi who's losing his sight. The rabbi's brother Lester (Alan Alda) is a big time television producer who's having a PBS documentary made about his life. He asks his nebbish brother-in-law, Cliff (Woody Allen), who's an aspiring film-maker himself, to do the documentary, not because he respects his work but soley as a favor to his sister (because he feels sorry for her, having married such a bum). Cliff can't stands Lester, and takes to mocking him behind his back with the PBS producer (Mia Farrow). The two strike up a friendship, and Cliff starts contemplating leaving his wife for this woman. The storylines between the opthamologist and the film-maker rarely intersect, but they seem to parallel each other in other ways. They've both made mistakes with their lives and take a chance on correcting those mistakes, and neither one is really happy with the outcome. At best, they come to terms with it, and justify their own misery. I've read that this film is about showing the weakness of God, that if God sits back and watches us do the wrong thing, doesn't that make him our accomplice? Or at the very least, he just doesn't care. No justice is meted out from above on the wicked, the only guilt or innocence one experiences comes from within. It's definitely one of the best films of all time.

• Alice S

  
  Simply classic.

• _kelly .

  
  not underrated, but mostly underseen. Fantastically dark and openly inquisitive Allen drama. Match Point lovers, be prepared to set the bar a bit higher for Woody Allen dramas. "So Fucked Up" highlight: whole plot

• Aaron N

  
  Judah Rosenthal: I remember my father telling me, "The eyes of God are on us always." The eyes of God. What a phrase to a young boy. What were God's eyes like? Unimaginably penetrating, intense eyes, I assumed. And I wonder if it was just a coincidence I made my… More
  Judah Rosenthal: I remember my father telling me, "The eyes of God are on us always." The eyes of God. What a phrase to a young boy. What were God's eyes like? Unimaginably penetrating, intense eyes, I assumed. And I wonder if it was just a coincidence I made my specialty ophthalmology. The more I think about it, the more I believe this to be my favorite Woody Allen film. It has an exceptionally strong cast. A wonderful split story. The dialog is of course greatly written in true Allen tradition. It has a wonderful soundtrack. It is one of Allen's best works in terms of a well made film, complete with well imputed flashbacks, cutting, and editing. It also plays situations for the darker, which works very well for the picture. Lester: Comedy is tragedy plus time! Story one is a typical Woody Allen styled comedy/drama. Allen plays a struggling documentary filmmaker. He is seemingly unhappily married and has just been given the terrible but needed work of making a film about his pompous brother-in-law played by Alan Alda. This is pretty terrible for him, but he meets a woman on the production, played by Mia Farrow, which he wishes to pursue a relation with. Cliff Stern: It's probably just as well. I plagiarized most of it from James Joyce. You probably wondered why all the references to Dublin. Story two involves a successful eye doctor Judah, played wonderfully by Martin Landaou. While he is well respected, he is having an affair with an obsessive woman, played by Anjelica Huston. As she seems to be trying to hurt him by revealing the truth to his wife, Landau is forced to come to a decision based on the advice from both a rabbi who is going blind, played by Sam Waterston, and his brother Jack, a small-time gangster. Ben: It's a human life. You don't think God sees? Judah Rosenthal: God is a luxury I can't afford. The two stories have many similar themes, of course played for different effect, before eventually coming together. The film itself has multiple layers and is all ingeniously constructed to work on many levels. It is of course also set in New York, which provides for wonderful scenery in terms of showing many sides of the city. This is truly a great film in all respects, filled with wonderful dialog and moving along at a perfect pace to reflect on both stories. Cliff Stern: I think I see a cab. If we run quickly we can kick the crutch from that old lady and get it.

• Elvira B

  
  Allen's reflection about morality, skepticism, love, and God. Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, always intelligent. Which of course all of Woody Allen's films are. Martin Landau is a spectacular actor, he amazed me in Ed Wood and here it shows again that he was indeed very… More
  Allen's reflection about morality, skepticism, love, and God. Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, always intelligent. Which of course all of Woody Allen's films are. Martin Landau is a spectacular actor, he amazed me in Ed Wood and here it shows again that he was indeed very talented.

• Gordon A

  
  My favourite Woody Allen film.

• Tim S

  
  In my opinion, Woody Allen's best film. Perfect mix of both his styles.

• Jennifer X

  
  woody allen is a GOD.

• Leigh R

  
  Very dumb.

• Jeffrey M

  
  One of Woody Allenâ(TM)s most highly regarded films, Crimes and Misdemeanors is a smart, thought provoking, and well acted drama, very similar to his later Match Point. Like Match Point, moral ambiguity is a key theme, with the film refusing to revert to easy answers and Hollywood… More
  One of Woody Allenâ(TM)s most highly regarded films, Crimes and Misdemeanors is a smart, thought provoking, and well acted drama, very similar to his later Match Point. Like Match Point, moral ambiguity is a key theme, with the film refusing to revert to easy answers and Hollywood clichà (C)s. Overall though, itâ(TM)s not as impactful as Match Point, due in part to its juggling multiple storylines, and not quite matching the unrelenting tension. Still, its effective mood and cynical sensibilities make it a must-see for Allen fans.

• Laura C

  
  Pretty thought-provoking. I seem to like Woody Allen's films in spite of myself, as I tend to wonder just how much Woody Allen respects women.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings