Meurtre mystérieux à Manhattan

Woody Allen and Diane Keaton reunite in this fine film, and both are in top form. Although it largely abandons the angst-filled themes of many of Allen's earlier films, it replaces it with a playfulness and sense of fun which elevates the film above your standard comedy or mystery. Alan Alda is notable for his fine performance, as well.

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.

This is my favorite Woody Allen movie and right up there with Annie Hall and Manhattan as one of his best. Woody is at his best when he has Diane Keaton by his side and this proves it. A lot of his more recent movies haven't been good, because he is pairing himself with much younger actresses who aren't as good at this type of comedy or who aren't good at all in the case of Helen Hunt. This movie is hilarious even if you are my age (20). I think it's refreshing to go the video store and rent a comedy that isn't either a stupid spoof, or a teen comedy that plays like a rated R sitcom. This is a comedy that actually has a story, and Woody has the best lines. If you don't like Woody's style though you won't like this, but if you have seen Annie Hall or any of his other movies and liked them then you should love this one.



Zoopansick

This is the sort of movie I can watch over and over. In one word I would say it is clever. A combination of mystery, suspense, drama, and Allen's ingenious humor, Manhattan Murder Mystery is my favorite Woody Allen movie. Perhaps my favorite movie - period. The plot was fresh, and having such humor with suspense is just too good. Another quality I enjoy in this movie is how Allen avoids an "over-polished" look. For instance, the scene where a neighbor in the hallway asks Paul about a rent increase. The actor appears to stumble for the right word, but Allen let the scene go that way giving it a very natural look. The restaurant scenes also portray realism with multiple conversations at one time; a quality I love in all of his movies. This makes reviewing the movies interesting- you pick up something new each time you watch it! Woody Allen's style is definitely an intelligent humor.

• "What would you do if he found you in his house?"
• "I wasn't thinking that far ahead"
• "That far ahead? We're talking two seconds here. All he had to do was look under the bed!"

"Manhattan Murder Mystery" is 50% Hitchcock, 50% Bergman, and 100% Allen. It's frequently laugh-out-loud funny ("you must pay us in small unmarked bills....or, large marked ones, if you want to go that route"), but beyond that, it's a warmhearted, affectionate, insightful look at marriage and middle age. It is also a love letter to New York, and a homage to old Hollywood movies. And it has probably one of the tightest plots of all his films. Woody is very generous about sharing the spotlight with the other three main leads, Diane Keaton, Alan Alda, and Angelica Huston. He and Keaton are perfect together and it's a shame they have never worked together again since 1993 - maybe even as the same characters they play here. It's a wonderful film - one of Allen's best. *** out of 4.