Crimes and Misdemeanors is often considered one of Woody Allens masterpieces. Though I dont think its quiet in the league of Annie Hall or Hannah and Her Sisters, this is a good movie (for the record, I saw it for the first time back in middle school, but thought I should take a look at it again).
The film is essentially a better written (and less plagiarized) precursor to Match Point. The main story revolves around Judah Rosenberg (Martin Landau), a wealthy, and seemingly happily married optometrist. In reality, Judah has been fooling around with Dolores (Angelica Huston), who is emotionally unstable and is getting more and more frustrated with Judahs refusal to leave his wife, and is threatening to reveal some shady business deals. The doctor finds himself considering the unthinkable- murdering Dolores to save himself and his respectable position. In a secondary but parallel story, Allen plays Clifford, a documentary filmmaker who for money makes a film about, Lester, his brother-in-law (Alan Alda), an extremely successful TV producer. While making the film, Allen begins a relationship with his producer (Mia Farrlow).
Spoilers ahead. This was Allens most philosophical work up until that time, and deals with an idea that a lot of directors (Kubrick and Polanski come to mind) have grappled with- that in a postmodern world, good is not rewarded and evil is not punished. Judah, raised as a devout Jew but in adulthood an athiest, finds that he is strangley comfortable with the idea of himself as a murderer, once he realizes that no great punishment will come to him, and that he can live without guilt, everything will be OK - for him, anyway.
One of the real strengths of the movie is that this one of the few films to deal seriously with Jewish theology, the vast majority of philosophical films deal with either Christian, New Age, or atheistic ideas. I also really like the constant metaphor of seeing, particularly in the ambiguous final shot involving the blind rabbi (Sam Waterston). Is Allen saying that the rabbi (who believes in absolute truth) is happy because he cannot see the reality of the world, or is blindness used as a disabilty, that he is happy despite the tragic loss of his vision, where Judah could never be happy with the loss of his wife and career?
Where the movie fails is in the secondary plot. I think that Allen may be trying to set up the idea that Clifford is good and doesnt get what he wants (a relationship with Hailey, the producer), but to me, Haileys choice of Lester over Clifford is more a bad judgment call than an unethical decision. Part of the problem is that Lester doesnt really come of as that much of a jerk (Alan Alda is too likable), so we never really share Cliffords loathing of him. Allens humor in this segment is not funny, and it contrasts a little too heavily with the ultra-serious Judah story.
Still, this a good, serious film that surely must be a good conversation starter. This is the kind of film you want to talk about after you see it, and that may be the biggest compliment I can give it.
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)