L'enterrement de Mme Columbo

REST IN PEACE, MRS. COLUMBO is an atypical episode in the COLUMBO series and a not entirely successful one. Like UNDERCOVER and NO TIME TO DIE, it seeks to break the established format of the show - the format that made it so successful in the first place. The idea's a novel one, I'll give them that, but the execution here is only so-so.

What I did like was the idea of having the guest villain nursing a personal grievance against our detective hero. Helen Shaver isn't one of the series greats, but she does strive to embody her conniving character with depth and realism, so you have to give her that. The episode is also notable for featuring a couple of top character actors in support, namely Ian McShane and Roscoe Lee Browne. It's a pity they're both so underutilised.

What I did love was the way that the villain in this story makes it personal, but that's only in the last half an hour or so and the pacing is a little off before then. The middle section does feel dragged out. However, the Columbo's-family-in-peril stuff is great, and the last ten minutes in particular really picks things up for some exhilarating viewing. The bad thing about this is the structure, particularly the opening sequence with that confusing funeral which is returned to throughout the episode. It means that the story has to be segmented and told in flashback, which is just ridiculous (and why McShane would be at the funeral is anybody's guess). A more linear narrative and this might have been one of the most memorable episodes of the entire series.

To all those who disregard or disdain every one of the late Columbos, I hate quite a few of them too. In fact, this one plays with the format as well, which is what caused so many of the others to be dreadful. But surprise, surprise, it not only worked this time, it turned into one of the greatest of all episodes, top 5 in my book. For starters, we have the old Columbo, reserved and serious but with a bunch of funny character quirks. None of the speaking like a senile old man, or explaining things like one does to a 3 year old child. The great dialogue is back. The french restaurant scene pitting Columbo against the Matre D' is hilarious and priceless. So is the chili scene with the waitress Gracie. The plot is brilliantly original, realistic (yes, there are psychopaths like that in the real world too). Helen Shaver, always underrated, is superb, grabbing every minute of her unusually long screen time and killing it. Her cat and mouse with Columbo is superb. And Columbo not only gets to do his usual great stuff as a sleuth, but also has to become a prime time actor, and does it splendidly. Finally, Roscoe Lee Browne is splendid as Dr. Steadman, and the scene in which he and Columbo do a dance act to get the necessary info without violating doctor/patient confidentiality is a joy to watch. If all that wasn't enough, the final two scenes are just riveting. Oh, did I mention that I really liked this movie?

Vivian Dimitri is a successful estate agent whose personal life is tinged with sadness as her husband died in prison. Secretly she does not blame him for his crimes but blames the others for getting him caught – including her boss Charlie Chambers (who she believes informed on him) and one Lt Columbo (who put him away). She plots revenge and enacts it by shooting Charlie and using an affair with the married Leland St John to help establish as good an alibi as possible. Her revenge on Columbo will also involve his death but first she decides to kill his wife and allow him to feel the loss of a loved one for a while before she kills him. As she watches Columbo at his wife's funeral, Vivian contemplates the genius of her plan that started with the murder of Charlie.

By opening with the funeral of Mrs Columbo and with Vivian's revenge half delivered this film offered a move away from the usual Columbo formula – which as we have seen is rarely a good thing with this series. Flashing back to Vivian's first murder we actually follow pretty closely to the usual formula by having Columbo investigating this crime but the usual cat and mouse between him and Vivian had greater potential because we know her end-game involves Columbo, she is not just trying to evade him. In theory that should make this better but the hook doesn't really come through in reality and the story is rolled out in the normal way. In this regard it is still OK and will probably please those who like the formula but it is not as good as it could have been and, in terms of the formula this is only a so-so entry in the series.

The acting is part of the reason for this because nobody is really any good. In the flashbacks Falk is his usual self but in the later scenes he is a terrible grieving man; here was his chance to really push the character he wears like a second skin but he doesn't take it. His chemistry isn't there with Shaver either but that is more to do with her lacklustre performance. The plot has her character as scheming, disturbed and driven by hatred to the point of murderous revenge however none of these come through where really she should have kept it just under the surface but expose it here and there, but she doesn't do anything of the sort. Support is equally so-so with turns from Ian McShane, Edward Winter and a small role for Roscoe Lee Browne.

Overall this is an OK entry in the Columbo series that is a nice try at something new without moving too far from the formula however it doesn't use the new ground that well. The plot isn't that good but will do enough for formula fans but it is hard to ignore the fact that the potential of the new is mostly missed. Interesting enough for fans but not good enough to stand up with the classic films from the seventies.

This time the movie its main target is Lt. Columbo himself. He's being given a hard time by a lady, who's husband has died in jail after he had been convicted for murder. Of course the person that got him behind bars was Columbo himself. Now how has to watch out for his life and that of his own wife now that the woman is seeking revenge.

Sounds like a real formulaic thriller plot, which it is also is really. But the difference is that this plot is different from just the usual Columbo formula, though the movie still knows to maintain all of the typical Columbo movie ingredients. The movie is also being told slightly differently and is told in a flashback mode. Normally it doesn't work out too well when a Columbo tries out a new approach with its style and story but in this particular case it simply works out well, since it's so well constructed and effective. Even if this script would had been used for any other average non-Columbo affiliated movie it would had been just as good.

Columbo has always used his wife to gain the trust from his main suspects and you could even question if there really is a Mrs. Columbo, also since she is never shown in any of the movies. Yes, I know there is a short lived "Mrs. Columbo" series which focused on the lieutenant's wife solving crimes as a reporter but I doubt that it was the original creators intention that she would ever appear in life form. In this movie his wife plays a central element for the movie its story, (also hence the movie its title) even though she again never even appears in the movie itself.

Helen Shaver plays a great part within the movie. Rarely has a Columbo movie ever concentrated so much on the movie its killer and viewpoint. So it's a real carrying role, which she handles just fine. She is a capable actress who isn't the best known but she has played in some great movie productions throughout her career, though often in much smaller roles. She's also active as a director now days and has directed many episodes of some very successful series.

The movie is interesting because it differs with its main concept so much from any other Columbo movie and it is also great since it actually works out and has a solid script, that is nicely constructed and being told within the movie.

8/10

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This Columbo story departs from the usual format in that Columbo is always the outsider digging for facts to solve a murder. The perpetrators are always apart and are never a threat to Columbo personally.

But Helen Shaver is a different kettle of fish. She shoots Edward Winter who ratted out her late husband and Columbo is also in her sights as he was the investigating officer. Her husband convicted of fraud died in prison and Shaver spent some time in a mental health facility.

So while in a remarkable coincidence is the investigating detective on Winter's homicide she's getting close to him with murder on her mind. And if not him her target could be Mrs. Columbo.

So Peter Falk is playing quite a cat and mouse game with Shaver and both are seeing themselves as the cat.

A real good scene is Falk with psychiatrist Roscoe Lee Browne who treated Shaver. With doctor/patient privilege applying and Browne trying to enjoy his gourmet meal he does convey to Columbo the danger he and the wife could be in.

Shaver is one dangerous woman not to be missed.