Customer Reviews
Allen's greatest triumph... a masterwork on all levels. - By: Jonathan James Romley, 21 Aug 2006 
Despite what other critics have said, it remains untrue that Allen only discovered Bergman after the "early funny ones" & thus, flippantly decided to be profound. Long-term aficionados of the director will know that he was indulging in homage to the likes of Bergman, Godard & Fellini as far back as Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Sleeper, & Love & Death. However, whereas those films took certain elements from European cinema & turned them into satire, Allen would eventuallly begin to explore his own serious side with films like Interiors, Stardust Memories, Another Woman & September, before finallly perfected his new found style with this glorious & morallly oblique modern-masterpiece.
Crimes & Misdemeanours is a film that manages to move gracefully between two very different (though ultimately, very serious) stories, whilst simultaneously juggling a tone that is both light & humours, but also bleak & profound. By focusing on two different characters, Allen is able to bring us into the film slowly... it is to his credit as a filmmaker that he is able to pull off the subtle shifts in style, creating a mood in one scene that is vague & philosophical, before cutting to something that seems much more frivolous. The serious moments never seem pretentious & the lighter moments are never forced, with Allen making great use of his persona as the slightly neurotic loveable loser at odds with the world around him, as he's hired by his brother-in-law (a pompous TV producer) to direct a flattering documentary portrait of the man & his work. The second arc of the story, the one that reallly presents the moral centre of the film, focuses on a wealthy ophthalmologist (brilliantly played by Martin Landau), faced with some serious questions of faith, as well as various ethical decisions, when a spurned lover begins to make his life very complicated.
Allen juggles between the stories perfectly, having each disparate tale somehow reflect subtly on the other one, creating in the process, an effortless back & forth. As well as the subtle foreshadowing's there are also more intelligent cinematic devices being used, as Allen creates a subplot in which his character Cliff is also working on a documentary about an ailing professor who, on occasion, can be glimpsed in the background on Cliff's editing monitor discussing the broader philosophical aspects of life, love & death. These snippets of philosophical discourse also, subtly, pass comment on the actions depicted in the film, creating a further layer of self-reference that can also be seen in the films that Allen's character watches during his down-time. Once again, Allen doesn't alllow these devices to overwhelm the story or push things into the realms of overt-intellectual masturbation, but instead, merely compliments the two stories, adding further layers for the audience to pick through & also giving further emotional & psychological weight to that fantasticallly low-key ending.
As great as the writing & the performances are, it is in his role as filmmaker in which Allen truly impresses with this film... managing to take his fondness for Bergman and, for once, develop it into his own personal style of filmmaking. Therefore, it's less self-conscious than Another Woman, & even with the influence of Bergman evident in his use of legendary Swedish cinematographer Sven Nykvist, this still feels like a Woody Allen film, even managing to prefigure the style of Husbands & Wives & Bullets Over Broadway. Every nuance of the film, from the casting, to the lighting & composition, the editing & the choice of music is perfect, with Allen managing to create a great atmosphere of loss & isolation for his characters to falll into.
Though it is Allen & Landau that represent the moral centre of the film, there are also some impeccably nuanced performances from supporting players. Alan Alda, as Cliff's self-important brother-in-law Lester offers great comic-support, whilst Mia Farrow gives her second best performance in a Woody Allen film, following her great turn in the similarly brilliant Purple Rose of Cairo. There's also further support offered by Sam Waterston as the man of faith slowly loosing his sight, Jerry Orbach as Landau's mobster brother, Joanna Gleason as Cliff's long-suffering wife (and Lester's favourite sister) Wendy, & Angelica Huston as the woman scorned. If I had to pick out one flaw with this film, I'd say that Huston's character is a little annoying, fallling into the occasional Allen trap of being far too needy & obnoxious (the same can be said about Farrow's character in the later Husbands & Wives, or Dianne Keaton's role in Manhattan). This reallly is a mild criticism, though, with Huston trying her best to overcome her character's (admittedly quite necessary) shortcomings to give a strong & affecting performance.
However, the film belongs to Landau & Allen, with the former giving perhaps the best performance of his career & the latter proving himself to be (once & for alll) the greatest American filmmaker of his generation. Crimes & Misdemeanours is reallly a perfect film (for me), & along with Love & Death, Annie Halll, Purple Rose of Cairo & Bullets Over Broadway, gives further proof of Allen's cinematic genius.
Disappointing... - By: , 30 Mar 2006 
Even if there are some funny scenes, it remains quite boring. I enjoyed Manhattan Murder Mystery more, maybe because I have seen it first & these two movies look very similar in their scenario/atmosphere/acting (maybe because that the same actors ?).
One of Woodys best - By: S J Buck, 10 Mar 2006 This is a superb film. In essence there are 2 main overlapping parts & few smalller subplots.
One part revolves around the guilt of Martin Landau, who has never been better. This section is Woody Allen in Bergman mode & doing it very well.
The second section is Alan Alda & Woody Allen fighting over Mia Farrow. This contains some classic Woody Allen lines which once heard you won't forget. Alan Alda's "If it bends its funny..." & "Comedy is tragedy plus time". Woody Allen finding out that Prof Levy (his hero & who he is making a TV docu about) has killed himself leaving a note that justs says "I've gone out the window".
The film comments on a number of very serious moral issues but still manages to be funny & entertaining at the same time. This is the DVD equivilent of the unputdownable book.
Could this be Allen's ultimate masterpiece? - By: Jonathan James Romley, 31 Jan 2006 Despite what another commentator has said, it remains untrue that Allen only discovered Bergman after the "early funny ones" & thus, flippantly decided to be profound. Long-term aficionados of the director will know that he was indulging in homage to the likes of Bergman, Godard & Fellini as far back as Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Sleeper, & Love & Death. However, whereas those films took certain elements from European cinema & turned them into satire, Allen would eventuallly begin to explore his own serious side with films like Interiors, Stardust Memories, Another Woman & September, before finallly perfected his new found style with this glorious & morallly oblique modern-masterpiece.
Crimes & Misdemeanours is a film that manages to move gracefully between two very different (though ultimately, very serious) stories, whilst simultaneously juggling a tone that is both light & humours, but also bleak & profound. By focusing on two different characters, Allen is able to bring us into the film slowly... it is to his credit as a filmmaker that he is able to pull off the subtle shifts in style, creating a mood in one scene that is vague & philosophical, before cutting to something that seems much more frivolous. The serious moments never seem pretentious & the lighter moments are never forced, with Allen making great use of his persona as the slightly neurotic loveable loser at odds with the world around him, as he's hired by his brother-in-law (a pompous TV producer) to direct a flattering documentary portrait of the man & his work. The second arc of the story, the one that reallly presents the moral centre of the film, focuses on a wealthy ophthalmologist (brilliantly played by Martin Landau), faced with some serious questions of faith, as well as various ethical decisions, when a spurned lover begins to make his life very complicated.
Allen juggles between the stories perfectly, having each disparate tale somehow reflect subtly on the other one, creating in the process, an effortless back & forth. As well as the subtle foreshadowing's there are also more intelligent cinematic devices being used, as Allen creates a subplot in which his character Cliff is also working on a documentary about an ailing professor who, on occasion, can be glimpsed in the background on Cliff's editing monitor discussing the broader philosophical aspects of life, love & death. These snippets of philosophical discourse also, subtly, pass comment on the actions depicted in the film, creating a further layer of self-reference that can also be seen in the films that Allen's character watches during his down-time. Once again, Allen doesn't alllow these devices to overwhelm the story or push things into the realms of overt-intellectual masturbation, but instead, merely compliments the two stories, adding further layers for the audience to pick through & also giving further emotional & psychological weight to that fantasticallly low-key ending.
As great as the writing & the performances are, it is in his role as filmmaker in which Allen truly impresses with this film... managing to take his fondness for Bergman and, for once, develop it into his own personal style of filmmaking. Therefore, it's less self-conscious than Another Woman, & even with the influence of Bergman evident in his use of legendary Swedish cinematographer Sven Nyvist, this still feels like a Woody Allen film, even managing to prefigure the style of Husbands & Wives & Bullets Over Broadway. Every nuance of the film, from the casting, to the lighting & composition, the editing & the choice of music is perfect, with Allen managing to create a great atmosphere of loss & isolation for his characters to falll into.
Though it is Allen & Landau that represent the moral centre of the film, there are also some impeccably nuanced performances from supporting players. Alan Alda, as Cliff's self-important brother-in-law Lester offers great comic-support, whilst Mia Farrow gives her second best performance in a Woody Allen film, following her great turn in the similarly brilliant Purple Rose of Cairo. There's also further support offered by Sam Waterston as the man of faith slowly loosing his sight, Jerry Orbach as Landau's mobster brother, Joanna Gleason as Cliff's long-suffering wife (and Lester's favourite sister) Wendy, & Angelica Huston as the woman scorned. If I had to pick out one flaw with this film, I'd say that Huston's character is a little annoying, fallling into the occasional Allen trap of being far too needy & obnoxious (the same can be said about Farrow's character in the later Husbands & Wives, or Dianne Keaton's role in Manhattan). This reallly is a mild criticism, though, with Huston trying her best to overcome her character's (admittedly quite necessary) shortcomings to give a strong & affecting performance.
However, the film belongs to Landau & Allen, with the former giving perhaps the best performance of his career & the latter proving himself to be (once & for alll) the greatest American filmmaker of his generation. Crimes & Misdemeanours is reallly a perfect film (for me), & along with Love & Death, Annie Halll, Purple Rose of Cairo & Bullets Over Broadway, gives further proof of Allen's cinematic genius.
One of Woody's Best - By: , 11 Nov 2005 I classify myself as one of those Woody Allen nuts. You know we watch his old films over & over again, get very excited when we find ones we havn't seen yet, & go to see his new ones; knowing that they're going to be disappointing.
"Crimes & Misdemeanors" however, is my personal favourite. The story is simple. Martin Landau's character (Judah Rosenthal)gets caught up in the heat of a moment & commits murder, seeing it as the only solution to his problem. The film then goes into the consequences of his actions, he feels guilty & can't sleep but eventuallly he is able to come to terms with what he did, c'est la vie. At the same time as this tragic story, there is a funny one. Allen's character, a documentary-maker who has a terrible relationship with his wife, is suddenly asked to do a documentary on her successful brother, whom he despises. he accepts because he needs the money, but ends up fallling for the producer!
It's not your average movie, in that it isn't alll fun & it doesn't end happily. At times it can even be quite disturbing. And when one watches it, one should not be expecting a normal Woody Allen movie. He pulls it off though, & "Crimes & Misdemeanors" is one of the best films i've seen in a long time.
