MovieChat Forums > Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) Discussion > So.... was Mia Farrow's ultimate choice ...

So.... was Mia Farrow's ultimate choice the midemeanor?

posted 10 years ago by Zando777
6 replies | jump to latest

Landau's murder was the crime. Was Farrow's choice to marry wealth and success - and promoted her acnowledged ambition - the misdemeanor?

She did like Allen, and in an ideal world, she would have rewarded his idealism and integrity by choosing him. Was her deviation fromnthat ideal path therefore the misdemeanor?

Allen's behavior was also, of course, morally questionable, as he was still married. Maybe that's one reason Farrow never chose him - he lacked integrity in some senses. But if anything, I think Farrows choice is depicted as the greater offense. Though very realistic.

[–] franzkabuki 10 years ago

Considering Stiffy`s wife was a frigid hag who showed no interest in her hubby besides him getting a well-paying job, it`s understandable Stiffy was looking elsewhere. However, he actually came across as rather pompous, whiny and self aggrandizing himself, especially in his very vocal dismissal of Alan Alda as some kind of lower life form. A character trait that may well have contributed to Farrow ultimately marrying Alda... who, for all we know, may indeed have been a nice guy outside the movie set.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] snelling 7 years ago

Stiffy?

"'Extremely High Voltage.' Well, I don't need safety gloves, because I'm Homer Simpsonbzbzbzbzbzbzzz--" - Frank Grimes

[–] franzkabuki 7 years ago

The same.

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

[–] gorgsharpy 7 years ago

So true.

"You couldn't be much further from the truth" - several

[–] Zando777 10 years ago

I agree about stiffy being a douche. But in his wife's defense, how many women really get turned on by morose whiners who don't even seek gainful employment of any kind? (As opposed to non-paying, self-indulgent hobbies.) Clearly, she was paying all the bills. Probably kills the sex drive. And maybe she was trying to motivate him.

[–] london777 8 years ago

I don't think we (the impartial audience) are meant to see Lester as a worse choice than Cliff. Remember we mainly see Lester through Cliff's eyes, and Cliff is jealous and embittered by failure. Sure, Lester is arrogant and pompous, but never spiteful, and he is very generous, even agreeing to let Cliff direct his biography as a favor. Many of the characters speak well of him. At the end, Halley says "He is not like you think he is" (or words to that effect). He hits on women all the time (maybe not always successfully) but he is single. Is this worse than a married man committing adultery? Cliff would jump most of those attractive women (like Darryl Hannah) in a flash, given the chance, and he is married.

Lester's product may be worthless, but 90% of people working under capitalism do jobs which do not meaningfully contribute to society and may be harmful. Cliff does not produce anything at all. We only have his own assertion that he is some kind of genius intellectual. What little evidence we have shows him as a pretentious and disorganized layabout. We must not fall into the trap of identifying Cliff with the real Woody Allen.