Crimes and Misdemeanors

The movie ?Crimes and Misdemeanors? displays the irony behind living one?s life by a strict set of moral standards. Its characters prove, in essence, that one who lives a moral life benefits everyone but himself. It does, however, raise the question of whether or not a moral structure exists in the world, and convinces the viewer that faith in this structure, or a God, leaves one in a better position overall. The existence of a moral structure is the existence of meaning and reason behind all that happens in the universe. Despite the film?s depressing end, it reaffirms the notion that having faith in God and human beings is beneficial for all, either because there is a moral structure, or because doing so creates a moral structure on a small scale.
Clifford, a kind man trying to make a positive difference in the world through his documentaries, cannot secure his relationship with his wife or, later, his coworker, and his work is largely ignored. Judah, a doctor tied up in a messy affair, receives comfort by rejecting thoughts of any moral structure in the universe or the existence of God. The movie ends on a confusing low note with Clifford having nothing but losses to show for trying to live a meaningful life, while Judah hugs the wife he has been unfaithful to, and walks away with a confident stride and a clean conscience despite having embezzlement, infidelity, and murder in his past. The movie does leave the viewer with the notion, however, that in order to live life immorally and without guilt one must reject God and even the notion that a moral structure exists in the universe, religious or otherwise.
Judah had a strong religious background, but made a number of bad decisions in his life. He began having an affair with Dolores, a vulnerable, unstable woman, years before we meet either of them in the film. She discovers many of his secrets, one being that the supposed ?fund-raising? he had done for the hospital he works in had actually been a cover for embezzlement scams he created to pay off his debts. In the heat of passion he makes crazy promises to Dolores, one being that he will leave his wife for her. When she reaches the worst of her days she tells Judah to be true to his word or she will inform his wife of their relationship and the proper authorities of his embezzlement. Judah seeks out the advice of his patient Ben, a rabbi, and his brother Jack, a gangster.
Ben tells Judah that the human community consists of compassion and a moral structure, and therefore forgiveness. Ben also says that without a higher power in the universe he could not understand how to live morally, and therefore a loving God must exist who will comfort, in this life or the next, those who are moral. Jack, on the other hand, offers to arrange Dolores? murder for Judah. Jack does not feel that any kind of moral structure exists in the world and thinks that Judah cannot rely on anyone giving him forgiveness. Judah, contemplating what he should do, comments that Ben lives in the kingdom of heaven, while Jack lives in the real world. Judah denies the existence of a compassionate, moral structure existing in humanity when he makes this decision.
Clifford is a noble man who is pushed over by society and whose life falls to pieces because of the decisions of others. He enters the movie in a scene with his niece, whom he has been a father figure for since her father died. One of his first comments in the film is that he promised her father on his deathbed that he would make sure she had a good upbringing, so they should probably go to a museum sometime instead of a movie. He is painted as a kind, loving man, which he is. Unfortunately, his wife stopped having relations with him and barely even speaks to him as she is merely waiting for an opportune time to divorce because she does not respect his pursuits in life, mainly having a meaningful career instead of a successful one. Also, the documentaries he makes in an effort to educate the world and give unheard geniuses a voice are widely ignored. His current project documents the teachings of a Professor Levy who believes that there is no predetermined moral structure in the universe, but that people can create one around them by their actions.
Clifford has a successful, superficial brother-in-law named Lester. This man has no real inspiration, but he works a team of writers hard enough to churn out a decent sitcom every week, and for that he is viewed as an icon in New York. Despite being a phony and a womanizer, he steals Hallie from Clifford. She was the woman he had been pursuing since his wife ended their relationship. Lester is in many ways the exact opposite of Clifford, and the movie concludes with Lester having everything, while Clifford struggles to manage his innumerable losses.
Clifford gains nothing through his kindness, and is left stunned and bewildered at what is left in his life by the end of the film. On an artificial level it would seem that the movie sides with Judah in saying that his lack of concern for morality will give him an easy life while Clifford has lost all his opportunities because he has tried to be moral. However, the film shows that living an immoral life, or denying God, gives a much crueler, harsher world to a person than living a moral life and having faith.
The moral backdrop of Judah?s situation comes when he flashes back to a conversation his father had with his relatives about religion. Judah?s father says that there is a moral structure because God will punish all sinners and reward the good either in this life or the next, but adds with complete certainty that even if all his faith is wrong, he will still have lived a better life than the nonbeliever. He sums up his beliefs with a comment that he would rather have God than the truth. Judah?s supposedly free conscience is actually imprisoned by his mindset. If there is a God which Judah has denied, he can no longer rely upon the moral structure which exists as a result of that God, for he has cast it away from his life. He said shortly after the death of Dolores that without God the world is a cesspool, yet he also says that at this junction in his life God is a luxury which he cannot afford. Because of the crimes he has committed in his life he must deny God to live at peace with himself, yet he admits that without God there is no meaning in the universe. Because he has denied God and the moral structure, he is miserable and alone, for when he reaches the next hardship in his life he will be completely on his own. He will not even be able to rely completely on his wife, for, when he had to decide whether or not to tell her about Dolores, he opted not test the bond between them but rather to assume that it would break if faced with a challenge of that magnitude. Judah and his father both accept the existence of a moral structure in the universe, which exists because there is a God. The moral voice behind Clifford?s side of this story, Professor Levy, has a different perception of the moral structure, which also holds true to both men?s stories.
Clifford?s situation is defined by the teachings of Professor Levy. The professor says that a structure is created around a person based on their actions and relations with other people. Because Clifford has been such a good man in his life, and because of the love between him and his niece and sister, he has created a moral structure around himself. He is in reality much better off than Judah by the film?s conclusion because he still has people he loves and shoulders he can cry on, even if he has more tears to shed. Because he has loved his sister and niece, they now love him and therefore the good have been rewarded and a moral structure exists, whether it is universal or solely a result of Clifford?s actions in this case.
The movie leaves the viewer with the notion that in the future Judah will be stuck by himself, while Clifford will have the help of those he has loved in life with any future problems. This outcome does reaffirm a moral structure?s existence, because those who have loved will in the future be loved while those who were sinful and dishonest will have no one. However, it is possible that this structure exists universally, put in place by God as Judah?s father suggested, or equally possible that these men are now the sum total of all their actions and Clifford has a better life because he has acted better towards other people as Professor Levy suggests. The only idea in the movie which is completely confirmed is Hallie?s thought that no matter what your philosophy of life is, it will always be incomplete. In the end neither Professor Levy nor Judah?s father is proven right or wrong, but both men?s ideas are incorporated into the film?s ending. The only fact which can be gleaned from this movie is that the good are rewarded and the bad punished inevitably.