Review of Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) by Rainer K — 28 Sep 2012

This is as far from Allen's screwball roots as it gets, or, better, as far as he possibly can go.

It's also one of his, technically, most accomplished movies, with a fine script (that not only sports the usual handful of quotable lines but a real plot), good performances by Martin Landau (the serious answer to Leslie Nielsen), Woody Allen (I wasn't aware of his sad little eyes that he can put to such effective use) and Alan Alda (who must be one of the most underrated actors) and surehanded direction.

The problem is though, I like his scripts without necessarily any plot but quirky characters and long monologues (preferably by Woody himself) about his neurotic antics, all in all his funnier efforts - and Crimes and Misdemeanors is probably his most earnest film I've seen so far.

It's not bad, but neither what I expected nor what I wanted. For a decent crime mystery I watch other directors who create films of pure suspense with complicated plots and characters that don't resemble caricatures (these caricatures which I usually love seem a bit out of place in this movie - most of all Allen's Cliff Stern).

This is a change of pace, an escape from laziness and boredom for Woody but also couldn't charm me it all.