Manhattan Murder Mystery (rewatch)

I had this pegged as another DVD for the discard pile, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well it holds up.  I know a lot of people are pretty down on this film, but most folks have wildly different opinions about which of Allen’s films are good and which ones stink anyway.  I wouldn’t rank it among the cream of the crop, but it’s comfortably in the second tier.  The humor is really strong, and I had a lot more laughs watching this than I did Waiting for Guffman just before it.  Unsurprisingly, Woody gets the lion’s share of the great lines, but he’s got a solid supporting cast with Diane Keaton, Alan Alda and Anjelica Huston backing him up.

And really, it’s not at all a bad thriller, either.  The story unfolds at a steady, enjoyable pace.  Having not seen it for quite a while, I’d forgotten that the plot is actually quite intricate.  If the homages to Double Indemnity, Rear Window and especially the Lady from Shanghai climax are a tad too blunt, at least you can tell they’re done with love.  And there’s a rather sly, perfectly implemented nod to Vertigo as well.

My few gripes are fairly negligible.  The handheld style was well suited to Husbands and Wives, here I don’t know if it really adds anything.  On the other hand, I don’t know if it disturbs anything either.  It’s slightly distracting at a few points, but no big deal.  Harder to ignore is the fact that Allen’s fearful neurotic shtick does get a bit tiresome after a while.  Yes, it’s a funny twist to have a protagonist in a noir-style murder mystery be an utter coward, but by the third act you kind of want him to stop whimpering about everything.  I can’t complain too much when it’s the root of most of the film’s best comedy, there were just times when he could have toned it down a notch.

Nonetheless, I was really tickled by the movie and I’m glad I took the time to revisit it after so many years.  Very entertaining and, in my opinion, underrated.  Rating: Very Good

IMDb