Review of Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) by Buddy K — 10 Feb 2008

Perfect movie, I think this one's gotta go in my top 15 at least. Easily Woody Allen's best (mostly) serious work. He treaded on similar territory with Match Point in 2005 although that was more of a thriller and is also a great serious work from Allen.

Martin Landau is fantastic (and should have won the oscar he was nominated for) in this as Allen who rarely makes himself act serious scenes but here he proves himself. Alan Alda and Anjelica Houston are good in their parts.

Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterson make small roles unforgettable. This is one of those movies that over a relatively short period of time (104 minutes) asks alot of burning questions on alot of big issues and doesn't spoon feed you the answers.

Very well directed and edited. Seemlessly weaves two very different stories around eachother until it they come together in a low-key but dramatic final scene.