Review #1,448: 'Crimes and Misdemeanors' (1989)

Say what you will about the rapidly decreasing quality of Woody Allen's work of late, or about the writer/director/actor's character in the wake of the recent horrific allegations made against him, but look back at his filmography and there's a wealth of brilliance to be found. As he became a household name thanks to some of the most hilarious comedies of the 1970s, Allen moved away from playing the clown and into more serious territory. The comedy was still there, but as a fan of Ingmar Bergman and Marcel Ophuls, he was always eager to explore the darkness rooted in our souls. One of his most sobering works is also one of his best. Released in 1989, Crimes and Misdemeanors asked the question posed by many a philosopher: Can you live with yourself after committing a murder or will the shame gradually eat away your soul?

The man at the centre of the story, Judah Rosenthal (Martin Landau), seems to have it all. He's a respected doctor with a loving family and a group of adoring friends, and the film opens with a lavish dinner held in his honour. On the surface, Judah is a happily married man, but he holds a dark secret. Over the past few months, he has indulged in an affair with flight attendant Dolores Paley (Anjelica Huston), enjoying short breaks away and taking long walks on the beach. Only now Dolores is threatening to reveal his secret, sending a letter to Judah's wife which he manages to intercept at the last minute, and calling from the gas station down the road with ideas of turning up at the family's door. When she refuses to listen to Judah's pleas, the doctor turns to his brother Jack (Jerry Orbach), who has connections to the mob, for help. Jack has a simple answer: He will hire someone to murder Dolores and Judah won't have to lift a finger.

While all of this is going on, struggling documentary filmmaker Cliff Stern (Allen) is thrown a gig by his brother-in-law - the obnoxious, self-obsessed sitcom writer Lester (Alan Alda) - and meets cute associate producer Halley Reed (Mia Farrow) on the job. Unhappy in his own marriage, Cliff can't help but fall in love, but Lester has her in his sights also. It took me a while to figure out why these two seemingly unconnected stories were unravelling side-by-side, but it soon becomes clear that this is a film about the absurdity of guilt. Judah and Jack had it drilled into them from a young age by their rabbi father, but now they appear to be literally getting away with murder. Cliff may want to cheat on his berating wife, but he is ultimately a 'good' guy, yet life doesn't seem to want to throw him any luck. There's also a key character in Ben (Sam Waterston), a rabbi who still maintains a lust for life despite his deteriorating eyesight. It plays like a thriller, but it's also very funny. There's a depressing theme constantly at play, but Allen ensures that the story remains insightful, engrossing and occasionally heartbreaking. One of Allen's shrewdest and most humanistic pictures to date, assisted by a flawless ensemble.


Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Martin Landau, Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston, Sam Waterston, Joanna Gleason, Claire Bloom, Jerry Orbach
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,425: 'Edtv' (1999)

It's too bad for Ron Howard's Edtv that its arrival came shortly after Peter Weir's masterful The Truman Show, a film received with adoration by both critics and general audiences alike. Both are satires that comment on the state of trash TV and how audiences will watch literally anything providing they follow a comfortable (and manipulated) narrative, but both took their own unique approach. Jim Carrey's Truman was of course completely unaware that millions tuned in every day to see him live out his life in a supposedly Utopian confines of a television studio, but Matthew McConaughey's video store clerk slacker happily signs up to have bulky cameras and a boom mic follow his every move. Edtv certainly lacks the bite and incredibly dark undertones of Weir's masterpiece, and is content with structuring events around a familiar rom-com narrative, but Howard's film gets its message across with sufficient charm and wit, and almost twenty years later feels spookily prophetic.

True TV producer Cynthia (Ellen DeGeneres) pitches an idea to her stuffy boss Mr. Whitaker (Rob Reiner) that will involve following one individual, 24/7, as they go about their everyday lives. Whitaker reluctantly agrees, so the camera crew heads out into the city to find what they hope will be a new superstar. Ray Perkurny (Woody Harrelson) is eager to grab the limelight, hauling his girlfriend Shari (Jenna Elfman) and younger brother Ed in front of the camera to endure his obnoxious jokes. Cynthia, charmed by Ed's good looks and humble outlook, opts for the younger brother, and so EdTV is born. Ratings are terrible at first, with Ed waking up with a hand down his pants to a horrified audience, but start to improve as it becomes clear that Ed harbours feelings for Shari. Soon a narrative forms, much to Cynthia's liking, as Ray accidentally reveals to the world that he's a cheating scumbag, and Ed's absent father Hank (Dennis Hopper) turns up in an attempt to reignite their relationship.

As the audience grows, so does their influence on the show's events, with polls and talk shows about EdTV seem to litter every channel. With Shari reluctant to play out a romantic relationship in front of a camera crew, a beautiful and willing supermodel (played by Elizabeth Hurley) is thrown into the mix to spice things up. With the power to voice your opinion on a global scale now at everybody's fingertips, along with the ability to hit record at any given moment, Edtv is stunningly accurate at depicting the toxicity this level of access can influence. The film seemed to know exactly where our pop culture was heading, and it reminded me of the unnerving time I observed a family member watching Big Brother housemates live as they slept motionless in their beds. Yet as events are forced to play in a more traditional, consumable manner, Edtv pulls most of its punches, and the story becomes more about Ed's will-they-won't-they relationship with Shari than the abyss of toxic waste we were steering ourselves toward.  Despite the best efforts of an incredibly talented cast - Martin Landau delivers a particularly fine performance as Ed's stepfather - the film is never vicious enough to hold the attention for a running time of over 2 hours.


Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau, Sally Kirkland, Elizabeth Hurley, Rob Reiner, Dennis Hopper
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie