CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1989 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Two stories somewhat intertwined to make a single story of morel decisions and their consequences show up most of the popular dramatic media as being pallid morality plays. These are clearly not morality plays. They are realistic and at least one is very worth seeing.
There are not many filmmakers who can make a film about moral philosophy and get away with it--at least not a film with deeper thoughts than that unjust acts are punishable by having Sly Stallone blow you up with a hand grenade. Woody Allen is one director who can make a film about ethical dilemmas. And he has the courage to treat them in a manner that is realistic and non-Hollywoodish enough that some may feel that the story does not work or is somehow incomplete. CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS does not just reject the popular ending, it is an indictment of the popular dramatic media and the people who create it.
CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS is really two stories only tangentially related as far as the plot is concerned, though each in some way throws light on the other. One of the stories starts superficially as if it was inspired by FATAL ATTRACTION. Successful opthalmologist Judah Rosenthal (played by Martin Landau in his best role ever) has been having a two-year affair with a neurotic stewardess (played by Anjelica Huston). She now threatens to ruin his career, frame him for embezzlement, and destroy his marriage if he does not marry her. His brother (played by Jerry Orbach) offers to arrange to have the mistress murdered. Judah has very strong moral principles, but he also has a lot he can lose if the mistress is not stopped.
The other story involves Cliff Stern (played by Woody Allen), an unsuccessful documentary filmmaker whose dream and long-term goal is to make a film about a philosophy professor with a very deep life-affirming philosophy. Instead he is commissioned to make a film about a very successful television comedy producer who happens to be Stern's brother-in- law. The producer (played by a perfectly cast Alan Alda) is glib and polished, makes pseudo-profound pronouncements on the nature of comedy, and in general personifies just about everything that Stern despises. The situation is exacerbated by a love triangle with a television documentary maker (played by Mia Farrow, who steadfastly refuses to let talent rub off on her no matter how many times Allen casts her). The irony is that Stern's hero, Dr. Levy, seems to have ideas no more profound than those of the television producers Stern hates, even if Levy does express them more eloquently.
Of the two stories by far the more meat is in the story of the opthalmologist with the moral dilemma. In that we see the ethical philosophy illustrated. The story of the filmmaker is more comedy and is sure to be more of an audience pleaser, but it is also far less ambitious. It is the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.
There seem to be four ways to get a major role in a Woody Allen film. You can be an established actor such as Claire Bloom. You can be an under- rated actor such as Landau, whose career took a nosedive with "Space: 1999" and who until last year's TUCKER had been getting thankless roles not nearly commensurate with his talent. You can get a role if Allen wants to make a point about you as an actor, which he seems to have done with Alan Alda. Actually it is surprising that Alda accepted a role that is so much of a put-down on Alda himself. The fourth way to get into an Allen film is the way Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow did and neither has really been an asset.
This is probably one of Allen's better "serious" films and I give it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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