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Reviews Counted:37
Fresh:34
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.9/10
Synopsis: CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS is Woody Allen's most mature, most profound film. Martin Landau plays Judah Rosenthal, a successful ophthalmologist having an affair with Dolores (Anjelica Huston), who is... [More]
Starring: Martin Landau, Anjelica Huston, Woody Allen, Joanna Gleason
Director: Woody Allen
Dramatically, the film seldom fulfils its promise, and its pessimistic 'moral' -- that good and evil do not always meet with their just deserts -- looks contrived and hollow. Intriguing and patchily effective, nevertheless.
A metaphysical comedy about how we conduct our lives in a time when many think the world is devoid of moral purpose.
The movie's secret strength -- its structure, really -- comes from the truth of the dozens and dozens of particular details through which it arrives at its own very hesitant, not especially comforting, very moving generality.
Top CriticAllen starts with a sketchy premise and after working it through for 107 minutes he still has no more than the premise he started with.
The movie generates the best kind of suspense, because it's not about what will happen to people -- it's about what decisions they will reach.
Top CriticIf Crimes and Misdemeanors isn't Woody Allen's best blending of drama and comedy, it's most certainly in the running.
By far the most stark blending of humor and tragedy to come to the movies in some time.
Sharp and darkly amusing.
A relative of Hannah and Her Sisters in its duplex structure and of The Purple Rose of Cairo in its bitter theme, Crimes is two movies in one, a blend of Allen's satiric and pretentious dramatic styles.
Top CriticLike Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, it is designed to inspire discussion rather than solve problems.
This is probably one of Allen's better 'serious' films.
This examination of the nature of evil interweaves masterfully comedy and melodrama in equal proportion. Instead of taking a casually brutal approach, Allen dwells on the consequences of sin.
...this dark meditation on justice and the lack of it may be his best film.
Strangely enough, the side-by-side sagas only serve to reinforce the argument that Allen is at his most serious when he's being funny.
Allen supplies no easy 'crime doesn't pay'answers, nor does he supply blatant redemptive baptismal scenes or bestow beacons of light upon his characters
Allen's neurotic outlook on life has never been presented with more clarity.
...tackles too many of life’s mysteries and provides too few answers. But isn’t that what life is all about: More questions than answers?
The overall 'philosophical' thrust -- that good guys finish last and that crime does pay -- is designed to make the audience feel very wise, but none of the characters or ideas is allowed to develop beyond its cardboard profile.
Troubling and thought-provoking and somewhat depressing.
The structural and stylistic conceit is that when Landau is onscreen, the film is dead serious, even solemn, while Allen's own appearance onscreen signals hilarious satire and priceless one-liners.
Top Critic
August 14, 2008:
Woody Allen Looks Back With EW 
As he prepares to launch his latest feature, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen has taken a few minutes to revisit a dozen of his career highlights with Entertainment Weekly. More...
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