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Crimes and Misdemeanors
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Dark Woody Allen comedy-drama about adultery, murder.
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Crimes and Misdemeanors
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What's the Story?
CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS presents a successful and respected physician named Judah (Martin Landau) who pays to have his mistress killed when she threatens to expose the affair and overturn his life. Moral dilemma is the movie's theme. When Judah asks his shady brother how to solve the problem, he surely knows that there will be a shady solution. Yet he acts shocked to hear his brother propose murder for hire. He claims his conscience won't allow it, yet he pays the money. Raised as an observant Jew who has always rejected the idea of a God, he now fears punishment as he relives his father's lectures on good and evil. At the same time, a married, unemployed documentary filmmaker (Woody Allen) woos a woman who isn't interested in him. Although he prefers more serious subjects, he agrees to make a film about Lester (Alan Alda), an egotistical, successful television producer for the money, which doesn't end well. Moral questions in this subplot echo those raised by the murder story.
Is It Any Good?
The writing, editing, and seamless storytelling make this one of Woody Allen's best films. Few others would think to showcase the human tendency to compare different degrees of immorality through comedy. Two intersecting stories loosely weave together. The one about adultery and murder is riveting. In comparison, the one featuring Allen as an unrealistic documentary maker who longs for an unattainable woman seems a bit slapstick in its comic effort to lighten the darkness. Yet the comedy may, in fact, be a stroke of directorial genius, making the murder story more palatable than it would be on its own. Note that the era of the cinematic antihero probably ended with the worldwide economic downturn, thus no longer affording the privileged, whiny stock characters Allen usually plays their former likability.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the movie views good and evil. Does it suggest that good people can do bad things but still be good? How would you define "good"?
Do you think it is fear of punishment that guides people's moral decision-making or an internal sense of what is right and what is wrong? What does the movie seem to say about this?
Do you think this 1989 movie is still relevant? Why, or why not?
How does this movie compare with other Woody Allen films?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 13, 1989
- On DVD or streaming: June 5, 2001
- Cast: Woody Allen , Martin Landau , Mia Farrow , Alan Alda
- Director: Woody Allen
- Studio: MGM
- Genre: Comedy
- Run time: 104 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG-13
- Last updated: February 26, 2022
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