Review of Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) by Blake P — 17 Aug 2011

Woody Allen is one of the best directors ever, and with "Crime and Misdemeanors", you seriously see him at his best. The movie has two plot lines going for it-- 1) Judah (Landau), is a successful eye doctor whose life might change when his mistress (Huston) threatens to reveal the affair they've been having for decades if he doesn't leave his wife (Bloom).

Instead of doing the right thing, his brother offers to pay a thug to kill her, and Judah accepts. As soon as she dies though, he doesn't realize how much guilt he would end up feeling. 2) Cliff (Allen) is a filmmaker who's next project is a documentary about his pompous comedian brother-in-law (Alda).

In the meantime, he falls for a producer (Farrow), and is so in love he'll leave his wife. Just to tell you ahead of time, neither of the stories really have happy endings. The first is a drama, and the second is a comedy, and Allen shows his best talents with both.

I didn't laugh a ton on this one, and really didn't think of it as a comedy. When I though of it as a drama though, it suddenly turned into a brilliant movie. Allen is full of good ideas, and this almost seems like a snippet of the characters lives.

While most of them and shallow, and not really sympathetic, you begin to like them as if you're a part of their lives, thanks to his awesome script (since when has he ever written a bad one?) In the mean time, all of the actors give some of their best performances, especially Allen himself, who gives a very mature one.

"Crimes and Misdemeanors" is a thought provoking drama that is really one of Allen's best works. Though it's not as entertaining as some of his comedies, it proves he has depth, and that's what's so good to see.

Recommended.