Crimes and Misdemeanours

Just saw this movie. It's very good.

http://www.putlocker.com/file/78DDDAE63395B784#

Woody Allen made a similar one called Match Point which is more recent but I haven't seen that one yet.

Here are my quick notes on it.

Theme (doubt Woody Allen had evolutionary biology in mind when he made it but was my take): Humans formed communities which were held together by a system of religion, morals. Humans that developed community instincts held an advantage over those who held only primitive ones. As time went on, community traits were favored though sociopaths still existed in varying degrees. Liberalism eradicated that system and tipped the balance back in favor of sociopaths.

Woody – idealist, archaic worldview. He likes old movies like Singing in the Rain which hark back to a previous culture.

Lester – skilled sociopath. Given full rein in modern society.

Woody's Crush – woman has mainly community instincts but is drawn to sociopath. Modern society determines sociopath will get her.

Wife – purely primitive like her brother. Why did she marry Woody in the first place? She must have changed (somewhat unrealistic).

Sister – typical modern woman who says there are no men. There are plenty of men but she only goes with men who have lots of options and so would never marry her (man who defecated on her (coarse sociopath).

Niece – woody idealizes her for her community traits, but she’ll probably go to a sociopath like Woody’s crush (hint: I want to be an actress).

Doctor – he is similar to main girl. Has mostly community instincts but modern life pushes him to anti-social behavior. In fact, what caused the problem in the first place was that he wasn’t primitive enough (“I should have broke it off earlier but I was weak”). A true sociopath would have discarded her after a few fucks as Lester regularly does.

Doctor’s brother – gives sociopath advice to doctor. Turns out to be right.

Ben (rabbi) – gives community advice to doctor. Turns out to be wrong.  

Doctor’s girlfriend – similar to sister. Modern woman gets discarded by man with lots of options. Doesn’t realize that it’s her own decision that led her to “give up other suitors.” Blames alpha man.

Philosopher – advocates community ideals. Would be a leader in yesteryear. Today he’s marginalized and finally commits suicide (maybe he realized his philosophy no longer worked).

Doctor’s family at the dinner table discussing – liberalism taking over. Note how the woman is the main proponent of eradication of morals (Though her nihilistic speech is not really typical of women advocating liberalism. It's actually what they blatantly ignore when proposing their ideals).

* Men – their fortunes range depending on community vs. sociopath traits. Woody and the philosopher end up screwed. Lester and the doctor (after he realizes that community values are archaic) "prosper."