Columbo: Murder, A Self Portrait

OK, so i enjoyed this Columbo movie a bit more than the previous ones. Partly because of the lovely scenery, the awesome house by the ocean and a much better musical score than the previous movies from '89. The villain is a narcissistic needy jerk thru-out, a painter, perfect for a guy controlling three different women in his life. His ex-wife, his current wife and his mistress. The actress playing the ex-wife has the most impact and believability. The mistress is the weakest link. The whole thing still doesn't compare to vintage Columbo but it's better than some earlier offerings. Best moment: Columbo sits for the artist and is put in an uncomfortable position. Peter Falk's understated humor is just wonderful. He knows how to milk a scene in a subtle way.

One of the most narcissistic murderers that Peter Falk ever encountered on Columbo has to be artist Patrick Bauchau. This man lives in a household that numbers at one time, an ex-wife who couldn't do without him, a current wife, and a 'model'. And they're very reason for existence is provide for his needs whatever they might be.

As it turns out one of them the ex-wife Fionnula Flanagan is going and she and her therapist George Coe are now an item. But Bauchau has one deep dark secret that he does not to come out either in session or in pillow talk. For that reason he strangles Flanagan and fakes her drowning.

Even with Bauchau painting a portrait of Peter Falk, Columbo's instincts are aroused. The other two women, Sheri Danese and Isabel Garcia Lorca are also in there on revolt.

I have to say that the evidence Columbo has is mighty thin and Bauchau could get off in court. But if a jury finds him as arrogant and egotistical as I did, he doesn't stand a chance.

There's also a nice supporting bit by bar owner Vito Scotti who did a few Columbo stories. All in all a worthwhile bit of viewing.

Although I haven't seen every Columbo episode there is, I'm certain the pattern is the same: A wealthy and intelligent individual (who is sometimes a celebrity) plans and executes a perfect murder. Then, Columbo enters the scene and since there are no witnesses he has to rely heavily on circumstantial evidence. Columbo finally out-smarts his suspects and arrests the criminal. At this point I always think that in real life this individual will hire a high-paid lawyer who will rip Columbo's case to shreds, but that's material for another movie.

Max Barsini fits perfectly into that typical criminal profile: wealthy and intelligent. But there's one more thing to add: a super-inflated ego, strong enough to dominate three women. Nevertheless, by the second half of the movie his character and his ego starts deflating, and at the end he just simply surrenders without putting up a fight. And that's the disappointment that I had with this episode, and many other episodes, where the person who was smart enough to plan an almost perfect homicide, suddenly succumbs under Columbo's pressure. Of course, not all Columbo's movies end up this way, and therefore I consider them my favorites. Unfortunately this one is not one of them.

I'm not in the television or visual art business, but I must remark about the interesting composition of what the television viewer sees on the television screen during this singular episode of Columbo. The on screen artwork props are quite tacky, except for the final portrait that appears in the ending credits. But, different scenes in this story are characteristic of various artists when creatively blending the lighting, shading, qualities of color, staging, props, and so on. One scene mimics Norman Rockwell, even. Maybe this is just in my head, but somebody behind the production of the scenes created a television classic. I'm willing to wager that if you were to show this episode to a handful of art enthusiasts in a communal setting, the resulting observations would interestingly quite descriptive.

I am a Columbo-fan, and this episode is really one of the best. Max Barsini (played by Patrick Bauchau (Dr. Sydney Green in the drama series "The Pretender" (1996-2000)) has a secret and his wife knows what it is. Max murders her, "pretending" it was an accident. Max also has an alibi: he was painting at Vito's. The case is clear, but then comes a police officer to solve the case: Lt. Columbo.

I was really enjoying this movie. A cast is excellent, many of my favourites (Peter Falk, Shera Danese, Patrick Bauchau to name a few) were here and did a wonderful job. Now I could see behind the scenes of painting artists...

For all Columbo-fan, this movie is a must see!