Il y a un truc!

I think of Peter Falk's Lieutenant Columbo as an old friend. I love watching him in action. Peter Falk is so good at playing him and he obviously enjoys it as well because he keeps coming back to him as well. I know that he kept the trademark raincoat from the series. Columbo Goes to the Guillotine was the first of many Columbo television films that came back after a decade long absence from our homes. We notice that Columbo hasn't changed that much including his raincoat over the last ten or so years that he stopped playing him. He's still the smart, funny, forgetful, and lovable Italian detective that we remember and treasure. I wish there was another episode even now. They're all treasures. I love how he doesn't change with the times but the characters do.

Although I am not a fanatic about Columbo, whenever I come across an episode while I'm channel surfing, I take it. The Columbo mysteries definitely beat the offerings of many other shows, even the Columbo entries that aren't as strong as others... which this one happens to be.

Let me make clear that I didn't hate or merely dislike this entry - I was to a significant degree entertained. But at the same time I saw some significant weaknesses. The most obvious one is the fact that this entry was designed to fit a two hour time slot, while the older episodes were made for a ninety minute time slot. While you might think that more Columbo would be great, for this particular mystery it is a problem. The setup takes far, far longer than usual; it takes a long time for Columbo to make his first appearance. And after Columbo starts to make his investigation, there are a few other places where the story seems unnecessarily padded out.

Also, there are some predictable touches here and there, though that may be because I know the hero so well by now, I have a good idea how he works.

But I'm glad I saw this entry despite its flaws. It's always nice to see this character, who is a little older but still a brilliant and interesting detective. Series fans should enjoy this entry, though people unfamiliar with Columbo should probably start with some of the older (and stronger) episodes first before watching this entry.

When Columbo returned to television in the late '80s, the integrity of the original series was usually in place. The qualities that made Columbo tops were never more apparent than in "Columbo Goes to the Guillotine," with guest stars Anthony Andrews, Anthony Zerbe, and Karen Austin. Andrews plays a psychic being wooed by a government organization for his gifts, but of course, they want to see proof. He is connected with a psychic institute run by beautiful Karen Austin, who not only wants the credibility a win like this could give her institute, but Andrews himself. She is running tests and helping him cheat.

Enter Zerbe, a magician who makes his living debunking psychics. He is brought in by the government to administer special tests to Andrews. Turns out, he and Andrews knew each other once, long ago, in a third world prison, and when Zerbe saw his chance to get out, he did, leaving Andrews behind. There is a hint here of more than just a prison friendship - in the hands of two excellent actors like Zerbe and Andrews, they have etched these characters and their relationship with a lot of layers. Andrews plays the card of their old friendship to get Zerbe to give him elaborate tests that are carried out by trickery, and then sanction him as real to the government. This accomplished, Andrews plays the revenge card for what Zerbe did by abandoning him years ago and, in a remarkable scene, gets rid of him. It's brilliantly done as the murder is never shown, but it makes you sick anyway.

It's up to Columbo to debunk the psychic and reveal him for what he really is, a cold-blooded killer. Watch Columbo figure out the tests, with the help of a boy who is a magic aficionado, and be prepared to be caught up in the scenario and feel like you've just seen a pretty great magic show. One of the truly great Columbos.

This is not the first time Columbo has entered the world of magic and illusion in the course of his investigations; it is an ideal setting for murder, with its built-in "things are not what they seem to be" theme. This movie, however, goes into greater detail exploring the mechanics of trickery, and adds in the richer theme of (supposed) paranormal phenomena to make things more confusing. A renowned magician and debunker of fake mystics (perhaps modelled somewhat on James Randi) declares that a celebrated young psychic is the genuine article, and has actually succeeded in passing rigorous laboratory tests to prove his psychic ability. In fact, the psychic is a fake, as the magician is fully aware, but a combination of guilt and sentiment over some shared history between the two men leads him to cover up for the young man, who takes advantage of this weakness to kill him. Columbo must not only work his way through the tricky surfaces presented by professional magicians, he has to also deal with a murderer who has been authoritatively declared a genuine psychic by the victim. The most useful advice he gets comes from a rather snotty little boy who is a magic buff and tells him "It's a trick. You start out knowing it's a trick, and then you figure out how to do it." Watching Columbo learn how to duplicate the apparently mystical feats of his opponent is highly enjoyable.

11 years after the last Columbo movie "Columbo: The Conspirators", Peter Falk returns as the scruffy looking famous Los Angeles police lieutenant. He could had made a far worse comeback, for "Columbo: Columbo Goes to the Guillotine" is simply a solid and well made Columbo movie entry.

For this project they safely picked director Leo Penn, who had already directed the solid Columbo movie "Columbo: Any Old Port in a Storm", 16 years earlier. He provides the movie with a steady and pleasant pace, using lots of cuts and dynamic camera-work. I have to say this is really one of the more stylish looking Columbo movies, as if they had more money to spend this time and more time to put in details and make things look more perfect. It probably was also true, since they of course had to ensure that Columbo would be picked up again by the viewers and it all had to be as good and successful again as the 'old' Columbo movies.

Even though it takes a long while for the murder to occur (it occurs after 24 minutes into the movie) and therefore also takes a long while for Lt. Columbo to make his grand entrance, it still is a movie that will keep you interested throughout, due to its nice written and compelling story, even though it sort of 'borrows' at times from the previous Columbo movie "Columbo: Now You See Him ", from 1976.

Anthony Andrews is perfectly cast and he really suits his role well as the movie its murderer. One thing that is very typical for the 'newer', post-'70's Columbo movies is that they mostly feature unknown actors as the movie its 'villains' opposite Lt. Columbo, unlike the 'older' Columbo movies, which always featured some big stars from movie, TV and even from the musical world in it, as the movie its killer. This new approach for the later Columbo movies, with casting mostly unknown actors in the important roles, doesn't always work out as well as it does in this movie though.

Unfortunalty the movie sleeps in a bit in the movie its second halve. Some of the sequences go on for too long and could had made their point much earlier. Seems to me they just HAD to fill around 90 minutes. A bit of a shame, since if this movie entirely would had been more like it's first halve, this movie could had really been among the best Columbo movies out of the long running successful series. The movie tends to get better toward the ending again but its ruined by a more slightly weak ending.

Overall a nice comeback from the good old lieutenant and on par with most other quality Columbo movies.

7/10

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