Columbo: Murder, A Self Portrait

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.

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.

The Columbo series is a true pleasure to savor… Peter Falk is perfect in his role as the seemingly befuddled on the surface detective with hidden brilliance. Hahaha… we know that is his sly fox ruse. This episode was a marvelous surprise for me! I have spent my life a successful artist in the fine art world and in my youth could relate, somewhat, to Mr. Barsini.; albeit without the murder. What made it extra fun for me personally was that Mr. Falk, as the artist, used to show his works in the same gallery with me in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The fact that the gallery dealer would sell an original, take fifty percent off the top and take twelve months to pay-out our share makes me wonder if Peter had a hand in writing this episode; with a plot where the artist's first murder was that of the unethical art dealer… lol. Anyway it was fun to see a bit of the world as I have known it… once again without the murderous aspect. Lookup Peter Falk's art if you haven't before… he was quite good. What a treasure he was… and still is.

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.

By the time "Murder, a Self Portrait" was made, more than 20 years had passed since the first "Columbo" movie. This, combined with a relatively unexciting case make this a must-see for fans. Others might just wanna try one of the earlier installments.

When the episode begins, you see that the artist Max Barsini has a most unusual living arrangement. His marriage seems very open and strange. His ex-wife lives next door and is very actively involved with Max's second wife as well as his lover...and the four of them eat and spend their time together! At first, it appears as if they are one big happy, albeit strange, family. However, when the first wife wants to leave and start a new life, Max's narcissism and co-dependence kick in and he murders her....making it look like a simply drowning. However, Columbo is on the case....and there seems to be nothing like a simple death to him!

The guest actors in this one are okay....but not particularly memorable or exciting to watch. The same goes with the finale, which has little in the way of fireworks or excitement.