Whether you like Woody Allen (like me), or hate him (like my boyfriend), youīre likely to enjoy Manhattan Murder Mystery. Woody Allen is there, but doesnīt dominate the movie, and Diane Keaton has more screen-time than he does,(so if you also hate Diane Keaton, this probably really isnīt a ... Read review
Diane Keaton stars as Carol Lipton, a bored Manhattan housewife who becomes convinced that ... more
her next-door neighbour has committed a murder. When her sceptical husband Larry (Woody Allen) rejects the idea, Carol turns to a flirtatious friend (Alan Alda) ...
Carol Lipton is a bored housewife who becomes convinced that her next door neighbour has ... more
commited a murder. When her sceptical husband Larry rejects the idea Carol turns to a flirtatious friend to help her search for clues. And as their entusiasm for ...
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Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Advantages: an almost perfect romantic comedy and an almost perfect detective story rolled up in one Disadvantages: probably not for young children
...boyfriend), youīre likely to enjoy Manhattan Murder Mystery. Woody Allen is there, but doesnīt dominate the movie, and Diane Keaton has more screen-time than he does,(so if you also hate Diane Keaton, this probably really isnīt a film for you). Alan Alda plays the third character in the filmīs romantic triangle, so Alan Alda lover/haters -- take note.
The plot is that the Diane Keaton character is getting bored in her marriage with ... ...to her life, starts playing detective with the Allen Alda character, investigating the suspicious death of an elderly neighbour which begins to look more and more like murder.
One of the things that is so marvellous about this film is that it is two different kinds of movies at the same time romantic comedy and detective story and both genres are pulled off flawlessly and seamlessly interwined. The love story is ultimately moving, ... more
Whether you like Woody Allen (like me), or hate him (like my boyfriend), youīre likely to enjoy Manhattan Murder Mystery. Woody Allen is there, but doesnīt dominate the movie, and Diane Keaton has more screen-time than he does,(so if you also hate Diane Keaton, this probably really isnīt a film for you). Alan Alda plays the third character in the filmīs romantic triangle, so Alan Alda lover/haters -- take note.
The plot is that the Diane Keaton character is getting bored in her marriage with the Woody Allen character, and, to add a little spice to her life, starts playing detective with the Allen Alda character, investigating the suspicious death of an elderly neighbour which begins to look more and more like murder.
One of the things that is so marvellous about this film is that it is two different kinds of movies at the same time romantic comedy and detective story and both genres are pulled off flawlessly and seamlessly interwined. The love story is ultimately moving, the comedy is really funny, and the detective story full of plot-twists and a clever plan to entrap the suspect. And there is a brilliant scene at the end (donīt worry I wonīt give anything away) with the characters are running around behind a movie screen in an old cinema, where mirrors have been propped around, and you donīt know what is reflection, screen image, or reality.
The pacing of the film is just right everything takes just the right amount of time to happen, and some gripping suspense is created at one point by rapid cutting between Diane Keaton, who has broken into the suspected murderer (Jerry Adler)īs flat to spy around, and Jerry Adler, unexpectedly on his way home.
And I thought the acting was perfect. It is one of those Woody Allen movies where all the characters seem to be playing themselves and improvising their lines, and the effect, for me, is utterly convincing. Diane Keaton, in particular, seems to have a weird ability to be absolutely Diane Keaton in every situation and to react to everything naturally as if it were really happening to her. You could say itīs the opposite strength of actors like Meryl Streep who amaze with their ability to seem not themselves.
I normally get bored if I see a film more than once, and I have seen this one three or four times so far, and continue to enjoy it. Highly recommended except for people who hate at least two out of the three actors, or who hate romantic comedy AND detective movies, or for young children, who might be alarmed by scenes where corpses turn up unexpectedly.
Advantages: The Hall of Mirrors, the Aquarium, the cliffside, Hayworth and Sloane Disadvantages: You will need to concentrate
woman who is responsible for O'Hara's predicament. Thirdly, the film has many morally ambivalent characters: Elsa, Arthur, Grisby and Broome are all more than they appear to be. Fourthly, O'Hara narrates most of the film commenting on each character with a cynical point of view. He undermines himself and is inconclusive about the events of the movie. The final element of style is that the film shows crime and its investigation. This is represented by the courtroom sequence where Welles treats the characterisation of the lawyers and judge with contempt.
The film has influenced many film makers including Bruce Lee in the martial arts film 'Enter The Dragon (1973),' where the final showdown of the movie takes place in a mirror maze. The film is also referenced in Woody Allen's 'ManhattanMurderMystery (1993)' and the James Bond movie ...
A bored Manhattan housewife becomes convinced that her next-door neighbour has committed murder. When her sceptical husband rejects the idea, she turns to a flirtatious friend to search for clues...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT; CINRAM LOGISTICS
"...MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY is an accomplished balancing act..." (Chicago Sun-Times, p.45, 20/08/1993)
"...At its amiable best, the new film offers glimmers of its stars' charming, quarrelsome old teamwork....Gratifyingly gentle and uncomplicated..." (New York Times, p.C13, 18/08/1993)
"...This confection keeps the chuckles coming....As neurotic a farce as can be imagined, and Allen and Brickman have amusingly festooned the plot with an array of topical and psychological concerns..." (Variety, 16/08/1993)
DVD Description
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton join forces again in this charming riff on such murder mystery classics as REAR WINDOW, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Allen and Keaton play Larry and Carol Lipton, a New York couple reevaluating their life together after their only son goes off to college. Carol thinks they have fallen into a boring life, but when one of their neighbors suddenly dies, Carol starts wondering if foul play was involved. Thrust further into the mystery by their friends Ted (Alan Alda) and Marcia (Anjelica Huston), the Liptons soon find themselves in the middle of murder and mayhem, with their relationship--as well as their lives--hanging in the balance. Seeing Allen and Keaton interact onscreen again, after a hiatus of several years, is a joy. The film moves at a fast pace, with Allen's trademark fabulous shots of New York landmarks. But the ending, which marvelously mimics the famous ending from Orson Welles's THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, is a tour de force that should not be missed.
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