Crimes and Misdemeanors - 1989

• Review
• Comments
• Soundtrack Info
• Posters

Film Synopsis

Main Cast Noteables

Bill Bernstein

Testimonial Speaker

Martin Landau

Judah Rosenthal

Claire Bloom

Miriam Rosenthal

Stephanie Roth

Sharon Rosenthal

Gregg Edelman

Chris

George J. Manos

Photographer (as George Manos)

Anjelica Huston

Dolores Paley

Woody Allen

Cliff Stern

Joanna Gleason

Wendy Stern

Alan Alda

Lester

Sam Waterston

Ben

Zina Jasper

Carol

Dolores Sutton

Judah's Secretary

Joel Fogel

T.V. Producer (as Joel S. Fogel)

Full Cast & Credits

Movie Remarks

by Steve Labinski February 10, 2012

Woody Allen: Moral Life Sucks

After watching this movie in the theater during its original 1989 release, a friend who was with me turned and observed that Woody Allen had officially moved from making movies with optimistic outcomes to the exact opposite. Allen had always been famously nihilist and existential in his films, to the point of opening mocking himself over it. But if you watch Annie Hall or Hannah and Her Sisters, Allen makes it a point to insert something hopeful.

Not in the case of Crimes and Misdemeanors. Allen clearly draws his lines with the characters of Cliff Stern, Allen's starving artist seeking to do good in the world, and Judah Rosenthal, the optician played astonishingly well by Martin Landau. Stern puts up a good fight, but by the movie's final scenes he's completely crushed. Contest over.

Allen's story comes from a similar idea in the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, with an alternative resolution. People will also recognize the theme of getting away with murder in Match Point.

Martin Landau's bravura performance presents a man attempting to deal with his conflicts, ultimately compartmentalizing them so that he may proceed enjoying life. Landau earned a well-deserved Oscar for his role, leaping up out of his chair when his name was called. Overcome with emotion, he stammered through an acceptance speech until the orchestra shut him down.