Product Details

• Actors: Dempsey, Kingsley, Delphy
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Lions Gate/Trimark Home Ent.
• VHS Release Date: March 14, 2000
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1573628220
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,146 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Condensing a 500-page novel into a coherent, entertaining 90-minute film is a challenge for any director, and Joseph Sargent does an admirable job with this adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic. Patrick Dempsey gives an impassioned performance as Raskolnikov, a man tortured by the conflict between his ideals and the grinding poverty in which he lives, as well as his guilt over the murder of an old pawnbroker and her sister. Sargent's manipulation of camera angles and effects mimics Raskolnikov's swirling thoughts as he descends into a kind of madness. By contrast, Ben Kingsley is coolly superior as the police chief who matches wits with Raskolnikov in a psychological duel that builds throughout the movie. Only Julie Delpy is disappointing in her one-dimensional portrayal of Sonia, the destitute whore who falls in love with Raskolnikov. The plot moves quickly--occasionally too quickly, as some of the novel's crucial details have been omitted from the film, robbing some scenes of their full impact. While it may not delve as deeply as it could into the moral issues the novel addresses, the film does faithfully portray the contrast between the lives of those at the top and bottom rungs of society in turn-of-the-century Russia. --Larisa Lomacky Moore

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor representations of Dostoevsky's characters, July 6, 2000

By	A Reader in NJ (NJ USA) - See all my reviews

The performances in this film are adequate, but the characters have little resemblance to thier counterparts in Dostoevsky's masterpiece. This film proffers a Roskolnikov who is little more than a Marxist Robin Hood. Gone is the brooding, conflicted student of the novel. Moreover, Julie Delpy's Sonya, while well-acted, is not the vulnerable and saintly figure that appears in the novel. Instead, she is a rather proud and dignified young woman. So many of the supporting characters, particularly Luzhin, are robbed of their complexity in order to fit the brief, simple presentation of this film. For example, in the novel Dostoevsky challenges us to determine if Luzhin's designs on Dunya are entirely ignoble. Yet, in this film Luzhin appears as an absurd fop who is worthy only of contempt. The director has compromised Dostoevsky's creation too much to be credited with a worthy effort. I do not believe that a successful adaptation of "Crime and Punishment" is not possible. However, this film is too flawed an adaptation to be considered successful.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Major Disappointment, March 31, 2000

By	H. Holliday (Liberty, SC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just finished reading the book then rented the movie. I looked at the length of the movie (89 minutes) and figured it would cut out a lot of the book. But I did not expect it to cut out so many of the extremely vital events, conversations, characters and stories. The plot in the book is extremely thick and the movie is merely a portion of a shodow of the book. Needless to say I was very disappointed in this movie. If you have read the book, don't waste your money or time on this movie. However, if you haven't read the book, this may be a mildly entertaining movie for you. But don't write a book report from this movie and don't expect the same deep moral storyline that is in the book. If you seen this movie, don't let it deter you from reading the book. The book is a great book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Compare This To The Book, June 10, 2002

By	James D. "Scienceguy" (Joppa, Israel) - See all my reviews

It is not fair to compare a 90 minute picture and its contents to that found in a 400 page novel. If you do, you will invariably be disappointed. This film takes only the main elements of the book (how could it do otherwise ?) and packs them tightly into a psychologically suspenseful cocoon of innocent ambitions, sinister evil, and ultimately- - regenerative redemption. The story is a classic, and this Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation does a fine job of transporting the viewer to turn-of-the-century Russia to see the conflict of good vs. evil unfold. Patrick Dempsey and Ben Kingsley both give strong performances that make this film one for the home shelf. ...