Contents
Reviews
How
Discs Are Rated
#
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
News
Archives
DVD
Guide
Contest
Video
Game Reviews
About
DVDlaunch
Meet
The Staff
Contact
|
Click above to purchase "Crimes and Misdemeanors"
at amazon.com
Crimes and Misdemeanors
review by Zach B.
Rated PG-13
Studio: MGM
Running Time: 104 minutes
Starring Caroline Aaron, Alan Alda, Woody Allen,
Claire Bloom, Mia Farrow, Joanna Gleason, Anjelica Huston,
Matin Landau, Jenny Nichols, Jerry Orbach, Sam Waterson
Written and Directed by Woody Allen
Retail Price: $19.98
Features: Theatrical Trailer, Collectible Booklet
Specs: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Mono,
French Mono, Spanish Mono, English Closed Captions, French
Subtitles, Spanish Subtitles, Scene Selections (16
Scenes)
Cliff Stern (Woody Allen) is a documentary filmmaker
who's attempting to make a movie about a professor, until he
is offered to make a profile at about a succesful TV
producer named Lester (Alan Alda). Cliff is not pleased with
Lester, as the two are pretty much opposites. Things get a
bit tricky when Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau) learns that
his ex-mistress, Dolores Paley (Anjelica Houstn) is planning
to exploit him with everything he has. Jack (Jerry Orbach),
Judah's mobster brother, suggests to have Dolores killed,
Jack has to make a big choice. While it should be pretty
obvious what to do (kill her or have her tell expose him),
it isn't to Judah. Meanwhile, Cliff has his own choices to
make. What happens and what they do will come together and
effect those around them.
Here we go! "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is truly one of
Allen's best films, in fact, I'd rank it as one of the top
five. There are some truly inspired scenes here and a lot of
great lines. This is movie is hilarious and has a good deal
of comedy, but with that, comes some deep themes. The
central theme of this Allen movie is mortality and values.
Characters here have to face what they stand for and the
right choices as well as the consequences. I keep mentioning
this, but what makes Allen such a good filmmaker as while we
can't always relate to the situations, we can relate to the
characters and their dillemas. Here, people face big
decisions every single day. Sometimes they make the right
moves, sometimes they don't. For what people do wrong, they
sometimes get away with it but other times they don't and
must face the worst. There's also themes of staying true to
yourself. What I liked about this movie too was the use of
flashbacks and how they were effective. Allen lets this
movie flow at a great, live and entertaining pace. Great
comedy, great situations and great dialogue make it a
winner.
The cast here is also marvelous. Anjelica Houston and
Martin Landau have great chemistry together, while Alan Alda
and Woody Allen are pretty funny from their end. The rest of
the cast too is great and makes it believable and fun. So,
whatever you do, don't miss "Crimes and Misdemeanors"
because it's classic, pure Allen. A great story with great
issues to further explore and reach out into our lives.
The transfer for "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is really
sharp and looks nice in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1,
complete in anamorphic widescreen. Despite some noise,
blemishes and dirt that isn't too bad, this is a really fine
transfer. Colors are staturated nicely, fleshtones and
blacks are dead-on, the hues are good and so is detail. This
is a very nice transfer and I'm glad since this movie
deserves it highly.
The English mono track has high fidelity and sounds
pretty new. Dialogue is crisp and clear, not muffled or
overpowered. Music sounds very good as well as the nice
sounds that are throughout the movie. It won't blow you
away, but for what it is it works very well and it is
pleasing. French and Spanish mono tracks are included too,
plus English closed captions and your usual MGM French and
Spanish subtitles.
A very nice collectible booklet with good information
about the movie and good perspective is included, plus the
Theatrical Trailer.
Don't miss one of Allen's best. A nice presentation and
the usual Allen features, this is a movie anyone can enjoy
with a good story that has a good meaning. This is one movie
that I think everyone should own. If you haven't seen it,
you owe it yourself to check it out.
 (4.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
 (4/5)
 (3.5/5)
 (.5/5)
(3.5/5, NOT an average)
|
