Manhattan Murder Mystery

In Manhattan, Carol (Diane Keaton) and her husband Larry Lipton (Woody Allen) are coming home late night when they meet their next door neighbors Lillian (Lynn Cohen) and Paul House (Jerry Adler) in the elevator. Lillian and Paul invite their neighbors to drink coffee with them in their apartment and Lillian shows her treadmill to Carol and Paul shows his collection of stamps to Larry. While drinking coffee, the elderly couple tells that they have been married for twenty-eight years and they have a twin tomb in the cemetery. Lillian tells that she is in good shape and uses her treadmill everyday.

On the next night, Carol and Larry go to see The Flying Dutchman in the theater and when they come back home, they learn that Lillian has died of heart attack. A couple of days later, Carol and Larry meet Paul on the street and Carol believes he is too perky for a widower that has just lost his beloved wife. When Carol accidentally finds an urn with Lillian's ashes in Paul's kitchen, she suspects that Paul has killed Lillian and comments with her friend Ted (Alan Alda). They decide to investigate her neighbor and Carol steals the keys of Paul's apartment from the super. She finds that Paul will travel to Paris and not to Caribbean as he had told to Larry and she, with a woman called Helen Moss. When Carol sees by chance Lillian alive in a bus, her curiosity increases and she decides to go further in her investigation.

Yesterday I was setting in order and cleaning my films on the shelf, and I decided to see again the VHS "Manhattan Murder Mystery". Last time I saw this film was in the 90's and I did not recall the story in details. Woody Allen is one of my favorite directors and actor, and that is the reason why I do not dare to say that this film is one of his best films because I love practically all his filmography.

"Manhattan Murder Mystery" has mystery, suspense and the refined and witty humor typical from Woody Allen. One of my favorite moments is when Larry compares the need to Carol returning to her shrink with a GM's recall. Another very funny moment is when the clumsy Larry plays the wrong tape during the phone conversation with Paul. If the reader wants to spend 104 minutes laughing, watch "Manhattan Murder Mystery" since this film is funny even for those that are not fans of Woody Allen. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil):"Um Misterioso Assassinato em Manhattan" ("A Mysterious Murder in Manhattan")

Note: On 23 October 2020, I saw this film again.

Light and insubstantial – the thinnest movie Allen made since 'Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy', but still breezy and fun entertainment, and still manages to have a deeper emotional resonance about working through mid-life crises and relationships. The camera-work is a mix. The first half is annoyingly hand-held much of the time, for no particularly good reason, but the second half has some very nice lighting, and a fun 'Lady From Shanghi' homage at the climax.

A flawed film, that one can pick at if you're in a cranky mood, but also one with wit and panache that you can enjoy if you let go of your inner film critic and just watch a master humorist simply tell a good yarn.

Larry Lipton (Woody Allen) and his wife Carol (Diane Keaton), both in their late forties, go back from a hockey game to their apartment in Manhattan. The middle-aged marriage indulging each other's pastimes of ice jockey and opera. In the elevator, they meet their next-door neighbors Paul (Jerry Adler) and Lilian (Lynn Cohen) House, who are both in their sixties, and whom they actually hardly ever know. Carol is longing to do something with her life, and her curiosity runs wild when her fairly elderly neighbour drops dead. She feels sure the gossipy woman would have mentioned her heart condition. We share Larry's sceptical view of her suspicions, but amazingly it seems there is something going on - especially when the woman turns up alive.

This enjoyable comedy and intrigue film titled ¨Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)¨ balances in the right ratio. A slight murder mystery with a lot of mayhem and confusion in which you have a feisty brew that actually has one or two thrilling, stylish and creepy moments amidst the modish comedy. A bit annoying at first, but little by little it continues to be balanced with fun enough. Light, exciting, entertaining comedy steers clear some of Allen's heavier themes and should keep audiences laughing till the final. Diane Keaton and Woody Allen team up again as two New Yorkers who get involved in a mystery when their neighbor dies under strange circumstances. Woody Allen writing with Marshall Brickman for the first time since ¨Annie Hall¨ and ¨Manhattan¨ makes viewers fall in love with the magic of NYC all over again. Woody Allen originally envisioned ¨Annie Hall¨ as a murder mystery, with a subplot about a romance, during script revisions, Allen decided to drop the murder plot, which he and Marshall Brickman later revitalized in ¨Manhattan Murder Mystery¨. Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman came up with the majority of the screenplay by walking up and down the streets of New York City. Woody Allen and Diane Keaton had trouble keeping a straight face when working together, displaying some uncontrollable laughter between the two, for their laughs were completely spontaneous. Along with the two wonderful protagonists, Allen and Keaton, appears as notorious secondary characters, such as: Alan Alda as Keaton's old flame who still has a yen for her, and publisher Allen's ace author Anjelica Huston, who fancies a mystery almost as much a novelist, adding a good supporting cast: Jerry Adler as the suspicious widower, Lynn Cohen, Ron Rifkin, Joy Behar, among others.

This interesting motion picture was competently directed by Woody Allen, adding the colorful cinematography by Carlo Di Palma, Allen's regular cameraman. In the beginning Woody made usually hilarious films in which he used to act, such as : ¨What's Up, Tiger Lily?¨, ¨Take the money and run¨, ¨Pussycat, Pussycat I Love You¨, ¨Sleeper¨, ¨Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask¨, among others . Subsequently he made several masterpieces. Including a series of movies in which he provided nice direction, investing care enough, wit and warmth, such as : ¨Crimes and misdemeanors¨, ¨New York stories¨, ¨September¨, ¨Radio Days¨, ¨Hanna and her sisters¨, ¨Broadway Danny Rose¨, ¨Zelig¨, ¨Stardust memories¨, ¨A midsummer Night's Sex Comedy¨, ¨Interiors¨, ¨Purple rose of Cairo¨, ¨Manhattan¨, ¨Annie Hall¨, ¨Melinda Melinda¨ and many others . Rating 6.5/10 . Better than average. The movie will appeal to Woody Allen and Diane Keaton enthusiasts.

This is a nice and light Woody Allen comedy about a death in a building that could be a murder. At least Diane Keaton's character thinks so, without really having a reason for that. She plays Carol Lipton, married to Larry Lipton (Woody Allen). They have just met their neighbors Paul (Jerry Adler) and Lillian House (Lynn Cohen) when Lillian dies. Because Paul is not that sad and is too ready to move on Carol becomes suspicious. When she is realizing certain strange events that has occurred her suspicion grows. Larry thinks it is pretty stupid but when a friend named Ted (Alan Alda) does believe her and helps her with the investigation he gets jealous and offers to help after all.

Whether a real murder has committed is not the point, I guess. Allen gives us standard movie situations, ridicules them a little, and betters them then. There is a scene where Allen and Keaton go from an elevator into a basement when the lights fall out. It is completely dark, something we have seen more in thrillers, and for some reason Allen is able to make this cliché thriller scene suspenseful. There are more of these moments. Since this is an Allen film there are a lot of links to other famous movies (the script itself is a little like Hitchcock's 'Rear Window') and famous scenes, the ending in particular does a terrific job in reliving one of the most memorable scenes out there. (It has to with mirrors, I guess you know what movie I am talking about). This light Allen comedy is a terrific mystery story with brilliant touches that will be liked not only by Allen-fans, but by everyone who loves either comedy or mystery suspense.

I was fond of the fly-on-the-wall style they used to film this. Diane and Woody are masters of improvisation and at no point did I feel like this was scripted - they seemed like a real couple arguing over the suspected murder of their neighbour.

Their arguments in this movie are funny - like really funny. Diane plays a frenzied, nosy woman who pries into the lives of other people to make up for the discontent she feels about her own.

Woody plays a loopy older gentleman who has long since been castrated by his overbearing wife and who spirals into a panic attack every time the mildest stressor appears.

The duo is electric because they compliment each other's delusion well. They are basically tripping over each other this entire movie, blathering barely coherent sentences whilst trying to solve a murder case that in all likelihood never happened.

Except it did, and it turns out this pair of conspiracy theorists were onto something all along. This movie is funny, witty and full of one liners.

The scene in which they, along with their investigative cohorts, concoct a plan to expose Paul and then the following scene where they execute it by phone is pure comic genius. It's rare that I laugh out loud for a film but I did here.

Overall, this is a hidden gem and I consider it massively entertaining. Not to be missed.