As A Huge Woody Allen Fan...

Having seen and liked both films, I would tend to agree with you about Johansson over Houston. I disagree about your assertion that Woody killed the suspense of Landau's story. Landau was much better than his counter part in Match Point. This film also had comic relief, which Match Point was badly in need of.

It does seem strange that he would risk his marriage for someone as dowdy as Anjelica Huston, but over all this a great movie. Best Woody Allen movie that I have seen. What is your favorite Woody Allen movie?

There are a few Allen films which I've not enjoyed the first time around, including Interiors and September - both of which I liked a lot more on second and third viewing - so it might be worth revisiting this one in a few months time.

Crimes immediately struck me as one of his best actually, and one of the best films I've ever seen about morality, choices as forming our sense of 'self', and having to live in a godless world with those choices. I'd even go as far as to say that Allen pretty much nails it perfectly here, and the mix of comedy and tragedy works very well for me. (Although I enjoy Match Point as a more 'straight' version of this film, it is rather dour, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers is no Martin Landau.)

Most of Allen's films are pretty heavy-handed; he doesn't really do subtlety like his European counterparts. What impressed me though, was his tackling such philosophical issues, while managing to weave them into such an involving narrative with characters who, although basically all pretty selfish, were relatable. I really like asking people who've seen this film if they thought Judah was a sympathetic character, or a total monster.

The acting is great, especially the tense scenes between Landau and Huston, and his discussions with Waterston. Also every scene with Alda in it is brilliant. Whether you buy Landau and Huston as a couple or not, they have good chemistry. I had no problem with Huston as the mistress; a guy like Judah isn't going to snag a fatale-type, and the flashbacks to their early relationship seem to show they were, initially, quite smitten with one another. In Match Point it felt like they were only interested in sex (which was understandable given how attractive the two leads were), but in Crimes you get the impression that their relationship was something they both treasured before it turned ugly. I don't really see the characters as two-dimensional at all.

Other small things: It's nice to see Allen starting to move his camera around a bit more, foreshadowing the extreme moving master shots he used in Husbands and Wives. Some of the shots are genuinely interesting (like Judah finding Dolores's corpse, how the camera lingers on her face before drifting back to him). I love the footage of the philosophy professor and his poignant ramblings (which fit so well into the story). And it's worth noting that even the comedy scenes are mostly tinged with sadness, as when Cliff's sister breaks down while discussing her perverted suitor, or when Cliff goes to dinner with Lester and Halley, and realises that he's losing her. It's actually quite a brutal film!

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He left a note. He left a simple little note that said, "I've gone out the window."