Genre: Comedy / Drama Director(s): Woody Allen Release Date: 13 October 1989 Movie rating: 8.0

In “Crimes and Misdemeanors” Woody Allen again firmly holds the reins, writing, directing, and co-starring in it. In this existential comedy drama he is paired with Martin Landau as we follow the tales of their moral and philosophical quandaries. Landau plays Judah Rosenthal, a successful ophthalmologist and a respectable family man who is having an affair with Dolores, a demanding flight attendant. Dolores is frustrated that Judah shows no intention of leaving his wife for her. She threatens to tell her all about their affair, and one day she sends her a letter in which she reveals it all. Judah manages to intercept the letter, but begins to see that the Dolores situation is getting out of hand. Seeing how Dolores might jeopardize his overall well being, he begins to consider some less ethical, more permanent solutions. Woody Allen is Cliff Stern, a small-time filmmaker. Cliff is forced to work on a documentary about his much more successful television producer brother-in-law whom he despises so he could have enough money to finish his other project. He falls in love with his brother-in-law’s production assistant and tries to woo her, while turning the documentary into an absolute mockery of his hated brother-in-law. His other, more significant project falls through when its subject commits suicide. He is also once again proven that his nemesis is simply more successful than him in every respect, and that it’s probably his own fault. In the end, Judah and Cliff have a chance meeting and have a conversation which reveals how their respective experiences have shaped their entire outlook on life.

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