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Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer (WGA):
Woody Allen (written by)
Release Date:
13 October 1989 (USA)
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Tagline:
A film about humanity.
Plot:
An opthamologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife, while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated by another woman. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars.
Another 7 wins
&
9 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(7 articles)
Interview: 50 Years of Filmmaking With Martin Landau
(From HollywoodChicago.com. 2 November 2009, 2:30 PM, PST)
Jay Dipietro's Top Ten Films of All Time
(From ioncinema. 1 October 2009)
(From HollywoodChicago.com. 2 November 2009, 2:30 PM, PST)
Jay Dipietro's Top Ten Films of All Time
(From ioncinema. 1 October 2009)
User Comments:
A flawed film but one that is interesting and ambitious as it delivers a look at the meaning of morals and ethics
more (114 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Bill Bernstein | ... | Testimonial Speaker |
 | Martin Landau | ... | Judah Rosenthal |
| Claire Bloom | ... | Miriam Rosenthal |
| Stephanie Roth Haberle | ... | Sharon Rosenthal (as Stephanie Roth) |
| Gregg Edelman | ... | Chris |
| George J. Manos | ... | Photographer (as George Manos) |
 | Anjelica Huston | ... | Dolores Paley |
 | Woody Allen | ... | Cliff Stern |
| Jenny Nichols | ... | Jenny |
 | 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) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
104 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:L |
Brazil:12 |
Norway:10 |
Norway:15 (self applied) |
Argentina:13 |
Chile:14 |
Finland:K-12 |
France:U |
Spain:13 |
Sweden:11 |
USA:PG-13 |
UK:15 |
West Germany:12 |
Singapore:PG |
Australia:M
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Martin Landau was originally cast as Jack Rosenthal.
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Goofs:
Factual errors: When Judah decides to have Delores killed, he only dials seven digits on the phone calling his brother, Jack. Judah lives in Connecticut and Jack lives in New York, so he would have to dial at least 10 digits to call him.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Testimonial Speaker: We're all very proud of Judah Rosenthal's philanthropic efforts. His endless hours of fund raising for the hospital, the new medical center, and now, the ophthalmology wing, which until this year had just been a dream. But it's due to Rosenthal our friend that we most appreciate. The husband, the father, the golf companion. Naturally if you have a medical problem you can call Judah...
Miriam Rosenthal: You're blushing darling.
Testimonial Speaker: ...day or night, weekends or holidays. But you can also call Judah to find out which is the best restaurant in Paris - or Athens. Or which hotel to stay at in Moscow. Or the best recording of a particular Mozart symphony...
[...]
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Testimonial Speaker: We're all very proud of Judah Rosenthal's philanthropic efforts. His endless hours of fund raising for the hospital, the new medical center, and now, the ophthalmology wing, which until this year had just been a dream. But it's due to Rosenthal our friend that we most appreciate. The husband, the father, the golf companion. Naturally if you have a medical problem you can call Judah...
Miriam Rosenthal: You're blushing darling.
Testimonial Speaker: ...day or night, weekends or holidays. But you can also call Judah to find out which is the best restaurant in Paris - or Athens. Or which hotel to stay at in Moscow. Or the best recording of a particular Mozart symphony...
[...]
more
Movie Connections:
Spoofed in "Family Guy: Chick Cancer (#5.7)" (2006)
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Soundtrack:
Home Cooking
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FAQ
Does anyone know what the actual misdemeanor was in "Crimes and Misdemeanors?"more
more (114 total)
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Judah Rosenthal is a very successful ophthalmologist who has a wife and two grown children but has been having an affair for many years with Delores Paley. However she is threatening to expose their relationship as well as other financial dealings he was involved in. With no options left Judah confronts the ethical and moral issues and reaches out to his criminal brother to help him out with a permanent solution. Meanwhile documentary filmmaker Cliff Stern agrees to take the money and direct a fly-on-the-wall documentary about the brother in law he hates – Emmy award winning TV producer Lester. He takes the money even though he hates the work and gets to know the producer of the film, Halley Reed and falls for her despite him being married.
For all its many flaws, this is still a good film with a constantly interesting idea behind it and reasonable ambitions. The narrative is split into two threads that only temporarily come together at the very end of the film and this is part of the problem with the film – it doesn't hang together as a story or a film terribly well. The plot is more of a look at morals and ethics in terms of where we get them, what they mean and the destruction of the idea that 'good will out'. For that reason the two plots are not so much stories as nails for Woody to hang his points upon and this may annoy many looking for a better structure. However, once I got what he was doing I understood why it was this way and I focused on the ideas behind it. In that regard the film is still flawed but it is consistently interesting in it's arguments and debate – the film is structured well enough so that we aren't sure what it's conclusions will be. Those who criticise the film for it's conclusions are either very lucky or horribly naïve – the ending may be pessimist but it is one that many of us see supported in our lives and the lives of those around us.
The mix of material in the film is as flawed as the plots themselves. Judah's thread is necessarily dark and Cliff's is more comic; while both qualities work in their respective stories it is the uneasy and uneven mix between the two that doesn't quite work. However, as I've said, I still found this to be interesting enough in its content and ambitious enough in its aims to be more than worth watching. Of course many people will not give Woody Allen films a chance and will just assume he was trying to be funny but failed, or trying for a crime story but failed but then those people will just stick to multiplex action movies and rarely wander into the work of other American filmmakers (god forbid any non-US work). This is not to say that those that dislike this film are wrong, no, in fact I salute them for trying something that may not be their cup of tea; I just think it a shame that a film such as this will be dismissed by so many without them even watching it.
Anyway, ramble over. The cast are all pretty good. Allen plays his usual character but his real work here is as director and writer. He gives himself a handful of good lines and he does well to deliver his lighter side of the film even if he fails to mix the two threads. Landau is excellent as he carries the core of the debate throughout. It may be a Woody Allen film but the heart of it is with Landau and he delivers it really well with tangible moral complexities. Outside of these two the support cast are mainly good by having good actors in the cast as opposed to the 'star of the month' complex that he has had recently. Alda, Huston, Waterson, Farrow, Orbach and Victor Argo are all good additions even if they didn't all have a great deal to do.
Overall this is a good film even if it is one that is filled with flaws. The plots don't totally satisfy and hang together however it is hard to ignore that it is consistently interesting and serves as an interesting look at morals and ethics. Sure it isn't Allen's funniest film, nor his most serious, nor his most intelligent, nor his best structured but it is interesting, thought-provoking and well worth a watch.