Review of Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) by Garrett C — 28 Jun 2016

Allen's nihilistic and misanthropic "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is the atheistic remake of Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment," with the change of intent obviously present in the switch of title.

Allen's statement here is a film that is utterly hopeless and believes that each human's individual choices make what their life is, that some choose to believe in God despite the lack of truth in that idea to get by in their life, some choose to love their family or their friends, etc.

It essentially boils down to the existential belief that there is no meaning in life except what you make of it. But I do not fault the film for only having an untruthful philosophical message, I also in general found it to be a rather paltry Allen film besides its pretentious facade.

I's generally unfunny and not involving dramatically. All of the characters are either despicable or pathetic, and all of Allen's most grating tendencies are not diluted here. I believe the majority of people who give this film a high rating enjoy it for the questions it asks and the "wise" sounding conclusions it reaches, but as someone who's very focused on philosophy I found its posturing dull and hollow.