One of Woody's Finest Films

Rating: 8/10 (13 July 2009)

Sophisticated, urbane, beautifully crafted, shot and scored, this is one of Woody Allen's finest films, although I confess that I by far prefer him behind the camera and not in front of it. There are a few letdowns in the acting (Scarlett Johansson, while beautiful, is not up to the superb acting of the other key players), and a few scenes between lesser characters -- the police, for example -- where the acting falls woefully short, and a digression into the nature of guilt that is gratuitous and distracting, but these are minor quibbles in a thoughtful and compelling film. There are some interesting parallels with Allen's very fine "Crimes and Misdemeanors" as well -- the theme of murdering one's troublesome mistress and getting away with it and the role of luck...in "Crimes and Misdemeanors", in fact, the rabbi tells Martin Landau that "A little good luck is the best plan" or words to that effect. The same might well be said here.