Review of Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) by Stuart K — 23 Apr 2012

Made around the time Woody Allen had made a move into serious films, this was written on a holiday to Sweden, when he was supposed to be writing a review on Ingmar Bergman's autobiography, it was a reaction against the happiness of Hannah and Her Sisters.

It would have two strands, one serious, one comic. The serious strand tells the story of ophthalmologist Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau), who is married to Miriam (Claire Bloom), but Judah makes the mistake of having an affair with flight attendant Dolores Paley (Anjelica Huston), and Dolores wants Judah to end his marriage to Miriam, otherwise she'll tell Miriam of Judah's infidelity, leading Judah to take drastic measures.

In the comedy story, filmmaker Clifford Stern (Woody) has been hired by his brother-in-law Lester (Alan Alda), a egotistical TV producer, to do a documentary on his life. Clifford loathes Lester and everything he stands for, but he falls for his associate producer, Halley Reed (Mia Farrow), as Clifford's marriage to his wife Wendy (Joanna Gleason) is on the rocks, and he has to make a decision too.

It's a gripping drama and a hilarious comedy all in one, the serious story mirrors what was to come in Match Point (2005), with Landau giving a brilliant performance, (he should have got an Oscar for this).

While the comedy segment has Woody at his best, with Alda stealing the film too, and it has funny dialogue too, It makes for a winning combination that works well.