Lately, too many people think of Woody Allen for his recent dry patch of films and his messy personal life. A lot of people discount anything that Allen made since the ‘90s. I disagree. HUSBANDS AND WIVES is amazing, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY is wonderfully entertaining and MIGHTY APHRODITE, EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU, DECONSTRUCTING HENRY, SWEET AND LOWDOWN and ANYTHING ELSE are all good films. The problem is that Allen keeps making films and if he doesn’t come out with a masterpiece every time everyone says he’s lost his stuff.
MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s just as entertaining as BULLETS OVER BROADWAY. Larry and Carol Lipton (Allen & Diane Keaton, ANNIE HALL) are a middle-aged couple who have come upon a dry spot in their marriage. Larry is a book editor, who tries to set up his flirtatious client Marcia Fox (Anjelica Huston, THE WITCHES) with his best friend Ted (Alan Alda, TV’s MASH), who is starting a restaurant with Carol and has had secret crush on her for years. Larry and Carol one night meet their next-door neighbors Paul and Lillian House (Jerry Adler, TV’s THE SOPRANOS & Lynn Cohen, WALKING & TALKING) for the first time. Then when Lillian turns up dead and Paul seems less than torn up about it, Carol gets it into her mind that Mr. House killed her.
She begins her own private investigation into the matter. Larry thinks she’s crazy, but the excitement of the idea brings her closer to Ted. The story is a riff on many classic thrillers like REAR WINDOW and plays homage to DOUBLE INDEMNITY and THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.
Allen develops the core characters convincingly with deceptive depth. The murder mystery is intriguing starting out as what seems to be just Carol’s furtive imagination and slowly develops into what seems like more. The performances are natural and Allen’s shot choices take on his usual casual tone. The funniest scene in the film is the one with the tape recorders. The set design for the climax is wonderful.
In the end, the film is a funny, entertaining and intriguing play on the classic murder mystery. Even when he is working in a genre mode like here, Allen can bring great nuance and surprises to the material. He is certainly still one of the best filmmakers around.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
