Crimes and Misdemeanors

Crimes and Misdemeanors
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Martin Landau, Anjelica Huston, Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Alan Alda, Sam Waterson, Jerry Orbach
Memorable Line: "If you want a happy ending, you should go see a Hollywood movie."

* Underrated and Overlooked *
Everyone seems to relate Woody Allen movies with neurotic and funny movies, but while Crimes and Misdemeanors is neurotic and has some funny moments, it is not a comedy. In fact it is a very dark movie, but that doesn't mean it's not good because it is very, very good.

The overarching questions of Crimes and Misdemeanors is how people can live with their sins.

The film follows a loose collection of people related by blood or relationship or work. The central character is Judah Rosenthal (Landau), a respected opthamologist, who has fallen into a long term affair with the wrong woman (Huston), Delores, a flight attendant who decides she wants and deserves more from Judah. For Judah, it was exciting and fun, but his life is his life and he wants to get back to it. Delores wants and demands more and this puts Judah in a tight spot. If his secret comes out, his personal and professional life could be ruined. He faces a decision and decides that he must protect his life at all costs and approaches his brother (Orbach) who stands on the other side of the law and asks if he could help him out of the situation.

Other plots in the movie includes Cliff Stern (Allen) a struggling documentary filmmaker, while he works on an esoteric project and also becomes infatuated with a young editor (Farrow). Thrown a project by family member as a favor, Cliff is forced to do a documentary on a famous but vapid TV producer (Alda). Another plot is Cliff's sister searching for a new man in her life only to have things go very wrong. Sam Waterson plays a rabbi who is going blind.

The phrase "It's always darkest before it goes pitch black" aptly fits this movie. The movies doesn't rub your nose in it, but where you may want to find the good in people and the hope in life, Allen's take on it is that for every silver lining, there is a dark cloud.

Crimes and Misdemeanors reinvigorated Landau's career and his performance is sublime. You feel his angst and his remorse. Huston is wonderful as the driven and almost obsessed lover. Allen has his character down pat and plays a variation on a theme character from his other films. Alda plays against type and nails the arrogant and self-indulgent blow-hard.

Not a feel good movie at all, Crimes and Misdemeanors is filled with allegory and it is probably the best blending of Allen's dark topic films and his off-beat comedies.