Review: Crimes and Misdemeanors

Seen 4/27/15

3/4

My second Woody Allen exposure, after Annie Hall, is many orders of magnitude darker, and in my opinion, noticeably better. Annie Hall was a film so full with Woody Allen witticisms there wasn't much room for anything else. Crimes and Misdemeanors, on the other hand, puts Allen as an actor as only half of the lead, inserts a large amount of pure philosophy, conveys real emotion and darkness through its story and characters, and leaves out most of the clever intellectual jabs that had no human element behind them. This film is much more profound and striking; it deals with similar existential questions as Annie, but gives the issues power, rather than treating them as purely an endeavor of intellectual entertainment. There is murder, mental illness, despair... And the philosophy is fascinating. Woody Allen proves himself to be a profound mind with all the thought he places so skillfully into this story. I liked the film quite a bit, and found it thoroughly interesting, funny, intelligent and meaningful.