Crimes and Misdemeanors is a film about two men who are unhappy in their marriages and the different choices they make to change their situation. Judah is a rich, successful orthopedic doctor who began having an affair two years previous with a woman named Delores; it was not because he had a bad marriage, he was merely bored and wanted some hot new "tail." Clifford is a nerdy, struggling filmmaker whose marriage has been on a steady decline for the past year; he begins work on a new project and meets his co-worker Nancy, who he immediately begins to fall for despite still being marred.
Judah's lover Delores starts to become very emotionally unstable and begins to threaten and blackmail Judah because he won't tell his wife about his mistress. She makes attempts to contact the wife herself and starts calling his house all the time. Judah realizes what an ass he's been and how he's jeopardized his whole life and career by having this affair; he goes to his brother Jack for advise, and he suggests Judah have Delores murdered. Initially Judah is appalled by this notion and refuses the thought altogether; however, after some time of having Delores get bolder and more desperate, Judah seriously considers it and finally decides to go through with the murder.
Meanwhile, Clifford continues courting his co-worker and begins to believe he is in love with her. He eventually tells her and ends up having a few sexual discrepancies. Not long after he tells Nancy his feelings for her, she tells Clifford that she has taken a job in Paris and will be gone for a few months. Clifford is shattered but decides to wait for her and get a divorce in the meantime. Around six months or so later Clifford sees Nancy at a party on the arm of a man he despises, and overhears that they got married while in Paris. He is devastated and is now single, miserable, and poor.
The film ends with Judah and Clifford talking at the party, and Judah is telling Clifford how his life has totally turned around and he is incredibly happy now. He ends up with his wife in a better relationship than they had before and is still a successful doctor. Clifford mulls over the idea of murder and if he had killed the man before, Nancy would never have married him. Ultimately we see that Judah did the wrong thing and ended up happier than before, while Clifford made the better choices and ended up miserable and alone for the rest of his life.
According to Mill and the Utilitarian viewpoint, Judah's choice to murder his mistress was the correct moral decision. Utilitarian's believe that the final consequences are all that matter, and that the moral decision brings about the happiness of the most people involved. They do not care that Delores had her life snuffed out for no real good reason, or that she was completely innocent of anything that would deserve such a harsh punishment. But by her death many other people remained happy; Judah was able to sweep his discrepancies under the rug, so to speak, and return to his old life as if nothing happened. He gained a deeper appreciation for his wife and family and thus was happier, by Delores' death the family remained in the dark about Judah's affair and they were all happy. None of his clients found out about his shady money transactions, and everyone in his life either remained as happy as before, or became happier.
Kant would have said that Judah was immoral because of the categorical imperative, which states that one should not act in such a way that they would not want others to act and thus be a universal law. If Judah believed in the categorical imperative, then by killing Delores he would essentially be saying that it would be okay if someone killed him for being a nuisance or for unethically messing around with his clients' money. I believe it is pretty obvious that Judah would not have wanted this at all since he couldn't even bare the thought that he would have to suffer the consequences for his wrong actions; not to mention having to pay for them with his own life.
Clifford's case is a little more difficult for me; I believe Mill and Kant would have said that Clifford was being moral by not following through with his murderous thoughts. Clifford divorced his wife and she met someone new, so she was happier; his lover Nancy ended up getting married to a man that she seemed to truly love, so both she and her new husband were happy also. Clifford was the only one who seemed to come out at a loss when everything was said and done, so Mill would have said the net gain was in happiness. Kant would have also said Clifford did the right thing, because he would not want it to be a universal law that people can kill each other out of jealousy.
In total, this film had quite a few things going on and different themes underneath the surface. The ending seemed to suggest to the audience that the person who does what is immoral but can get away with it is happier than the person who does what is right.
Judah's lover Delores starts to become very emotionally unstable and begins to threaten and blackmail Judah because he won't tell his wife about his mistress. She makes attempts to contact the wife herself and starts calling his house all the time. Judah realizes what an ass he's been and how he's jeopardized his whole life and career by having this affair; he goes to his brother Jack for advise, and he suggests Judah have Delores murdered. Initially Judah is appalled by this notion and refuses the thought altogether; however, after some time of having Delores get bolder and more desperate, Judah seriously considers it and finally decides to go through with the murder.
Meanwhile, Clifford continues courting his co-worker and begins to believe he is in love with her. He eventually tells her and ends up having a few sexual discrepancies. Not long after he tells Nancy his feelings for her, she tells Clifford that she has taken a job in Paris and will be gone for a few months. Clifford is shattered but decides to wait for her and get a divorce in the meantime. Around six months or so later Clifford sees Nancy at a party on the arm of a man he despises, and overhears that they got married while in Paris. He is devastated and is now single, miserable, and poor.
The film ends with Judah and Clifford talking at the party, and Judah is telling Clifford how his life has totally turned around and he is incredibly happy now. He ends up with his wife in a better relationship than they had before and is still a successful doctor. Clifford mulls over the idea of murder and if he had killed the man before, Nancy would never have married him. Ultimately we see that Judah did the wrong thing and ended up happier than before, while Clifford made the better choices and ended up miserable and alone for the rest of his life.
According to Mill and the Utilitarian viewpoint, Judah's choice to murder his mistress was the correct moral decision. Utilitarian's believe that the final consequences are all that matter, and that the moral decision brings about the happiness of the most people involved. They do not care that Delores had her life snuffed out for no real good reason, or that she was completely innocent of anything that would deserve such a harsh punishment. But by her death many other people remained happy; Judah was able to sweep his discrepancies under the rug, so to speak, and return to his old life as if nothing happened. He gained a deeper appreciation for his wife and family and thus was happier, by Delores' death the family remained in the dark about Judah's affair and they were all happy. None of his clients found out about his shady money transactions, and everyone in his life either remained as happy as before, or became happier.
Kant would have said that Judah was immoral because of the categorical imperative, which states that one should not act in such a way that they would not want others to act and thus be a universal law. If Judah believed in the categorical imperative, then by killing Delores he would essentially be saying that it would be okay if someone killed him for being a nuisance or for unethically messing around with his clients' money. I believe it is pretty obvious that Judah would not have wanted this at all since he couldn't even bare the thought that he would have to suffer the consequences for his wrong actions; not to mention having to pay for them with his own life.
Clifford's case is a little more difficult for me; I believe Mill and Kant would have said that Clifford was being moral by not following through with his murderous thoughts. Clifford divorced his wife and she met someone new, so she was happier; his lover Nancy ended up getting married to a man that she seemed to truly love, so both she and her new husband were happy also. Clifford was the only one who seemed to come out at a loss when everything was said and done, so Mill would have said the net gain was in happiness. Kant would have also said Clifford did the right thing, because he would not want it to be a universal law that people can kill each other out of jealousy.
In total, this film had quite a few things going on and different themes underneath the surface. The ending seemed to suggest to the audience that the person who does what is immoral but can get away with it is happier than the person who does what is right.