Crimes and Misdemeanors

1989’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors”, written and directed by Woody Allen.

Starring Martin Landau, Claire Bloom, Angelica Huston, Woody Allen, Joanna Gleason, Alan Alda, Mia Farrow, Sam Waterson, and Jerry Orbach.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor (Landau), Best Director (Allen), and Best Original Screenplay (Allen).

A multiple couple drama, we open with Martin Landau’s character, a married (to Claire Bloom), successful medical professional who gets a visit from his long term mistress (a great Angelica Huston) who insists that if he’s not going to leave Bloom for her, that she will tell what has been going on between them for over a decade. Landau struggles with coming to terms with his consequences. While mired in neurotic self denial, he uncharacteristically seeks the advice of a rabbi, and he must make a choice to repent or dig a deeper hole for himself. We’re also shown Woody Allen, here married to Joanna Gleason and unemployed as a documentary filmmaker. Gleason is desperate for the naïve and self righteous Allen to find gainful employment, so she gets her successful producer brother (an obnoxious Alan Alda) to offer Allen a job as his biographer. While filming Alda’s ridiculous routine, Allen runs into a producer (Mia Farrow, Allen’s one time actual girlfriend), and falls for her. The rest of the film focuses on the men’s reactions, solutions, and subsequent consequences that will haunt them moving forwards.

After watching Allen create work for well over 5 decades, there is an unnerving and strong belief running through a great deal of his work: that “the heart wants what it wants.” Indeed, when not making comedies, a disturbing amount of Allen’s films are about the telltale heart and how couples are not only destined to be unhappy together, but that being unfaithful is more of an expectation than an exception. Considering that at the time of “Crimes”’ making, Allen was twice divorced, and dating his co-star Mia Farrow, until a few years later the mid 50’s Allen was caught by Farrow having an affair with Farrow’s maybe 20 year old adopted daughter (Soon-Yi Previn). It’s those real life facts that make watching Allen try to cozy up to Farrow more than just a little off putting. Combine that with the fact that I’ve always enjoyed Allen’s films where he stays behind the camera and typewriter, firmly off of the screen, far more than the rest of his canon. His entrenched nebbish presence, can make things get uncomfortable fast. Beyond the discomfort, Allen’s script starts out a little heavy on the clumsy exposition, but it does suck you in as you watch the couples and their respective dramas tangle. In a move of inspiration, the not connected stories do come to a head, and we see that conscience is a subjective term. Possible to be interpreted from a religious perspective, we see there may be karma and guilt to consider as you go about the act of being alive and loving others, even if it means cowardly committing heinous crimes. Allen does show some lovely flashback work here, some of the prettiest work he’s ever done. Notwithstanding Allen, the cast is great as well. Best of all, Allen has an open ended ending, with the groundwork laid out for us to imagine what these poor lovers end up doing with themselves while the jazz plays on the background. It’s easy to see why Allen is so renowned as a creator, and easier to see why he’s infamous for his personal life choices- it’s in the middle where trouble happens.

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.