Crimes et délits

Comme toujours, j’ai passé un excellent moment à savourer les blagues névrosées et les constructions verbales délirantes de Woody, les meilleures blagues étant celles avec les pistaches et les coprophiles. Ce film sort du lot par le fait qu’il se scinde en deux lignes de genres distincts – l’histoire policière et la comédie. On retrouvera quelque chose de semblable avec Woody Allen plus tard, dans son film Melinda et Melinda. (06/11/2011)

There is not a great amount of directorial ideas, but Crimes and Misdemeanors is wonderfully intimate and human, it’s believable, and you can feel exactly what they are trying to say. Life just isn't always fun, and quite often it's a pretty mean bitch that makes you do things you never thought you would do. This film mainly shows this fact in two very different men in different situations, one of them brilliantly portrayed by Martin Landau, the other by the writer/director. Alan Alda was also excellent, playing a completely opposite character to the one he played in Sweet Liberty, three years earlier, where he was deposed by director Michael Caine as the author of the film's draft. And he obviously played it with gusto. (06/06/2013)

You've seen too many movies. I'm talking about reality. I mean, if you want a happy ending, you should go see a Hollywood movie. The rating is more like 85%, which would mean a remarkable work for any other director, but amidst the collection of Woody Allen's brilliant gems, Crimes and Misdemeanors unfortunately gets lost easily, and for one reason only. This time, he decided a bit unfortunately to divide the serious and light mood into two interconnected storylines, where the humorous one works, thanks to Woody's classic neurotic-romantic touch and the classic fateful woman beautifully portrayed, of course, by Mia Farrow, as well as the charming Alan Alda in their first collaboration. The problem remains in the serious part, where the director unexpectedly stumbled in his choice of the actor for the main role – Martin Landau is a fine actor, but he disappointed me heavily here, because he overacts and tries to show Judah's emotions too literally. I was rather surprised by how much my beloved Match Point ended up stealing from that thriller part, and yet it is filmed so much better and with more urgency and emphasis. The different crimes and misdemeanors, in that sense, don't work too well. (03/03/2007)

The darker Woody Allen is different after all. He is a man who turns more inward and explores the darkness that may lie within. And it's not just his inner self; it's the inner self of all of us. But it's still Woody Allen, who is still extremely good and will keep you entertained. Just in a different way, and perhaps it will make us think about it a little more. (08/02/2016)

A waste of talent. Normally I would have thought that a serious satire containing themes of murder and tragic love would flourish in Allen's hands as much as a futuristic sci-fi or romantic comedy, but the story is full of empty dialogue and descends into a whirlwind of philosophical drivel that doesn't fit the whole at all. I appreciate what Allen is trying to convey, but I’ve never seen him this boring before. And not even all those great actors can change that. 60% (29/06/2014)