Columbo mène la danse

A very young Matthew Rhys ("The Americans") is one of the stars of the final "Columbo," "Columbo Likes the Nightlife" from 2003. Also starring is Jennifer Sky, who has since become a journalist, and The Sopranos actor Steve Schirripa.

Rhys plays Justin Price, the owner of a soon-to-be-open rave club, but he's waiting for money to be transferred from his business partner Tony Galper (Carmine Giovinazzo). Before the money can be confirmed to be in his bank account, Galper's ex-wife and Justin's girlfriend (Sky) accidentally kills him. It's imperative that Tony not be discovered as missing or dead before the money lands. Unfortunately, a tabloid reporter puts the screws to Justin for blackmail money. When the reporter is found dead from an apparent suicide, Columbo doubts that's what it is.

Very good episode and a fitting farewell to Columbo, who in the last years has been hit or miss thanks to the producers using scripts that fiddled with the formula, including one that was a script by 87th precinct author Ed McBain.

Here, Columbo doesn't depend on the killer making a mistake but figures this out anyway, and it's very clever.

At 75 years old, Columbo would have been retired, not to mention that, were he still working, he would be a Police Deputy Chief, a Captain, a Commander - something! So I tell myself in these last years he was called in as a consultant.

I didn't like Peter Falk - I adored him. I interviewed him in the late '90s. The day he died I sat in an airport and cried. An amazing actor who left a great legacy and will always be fondly remembered as Columbo.

They actually called it 'Columbo Likes the Nightlife.' He didn't seem to be enjoying it much, though. He thought the music in the rave dance clubs was too loud, and so did I. And they even had that same awful music as background in scenes outside the clubs.

An actress has a fight with her ex-husband who was jealous of her new boyfriend, with deadly results. The boyfriend helps the survivor deal with the situation but one of the parties receives an 'I saw what you did' call. As a result of the blackmailing, the movie's murder is committed but made to look like a suicide, complete with a suicide note on a computer. Then the familiar broken-down car shows up at the murder scene with the increasingly elderly detective in his wrinkled raincoat. And he is not fooled. For those new to the 'Columbo' series of movies, the Lieutenant with no first name is very polite and appears sincerely interested in everything (usually, it turns out, because he sees a clue), but also quite obnoxious. And while he didn't appear as completely ignorant as usual to the guilty parties, he seems to know just enough to make them nervous, but he tends to be satisfied with their explanations of why things don't make sense. I have been watching these movies for about 10 years, and while there may be no reason to consider this one anything special, it did not disappoint. Unlike most murder mysteries, the audience nearly always knows who did it, but the fun is in watching the detective solve the crime.

My girlfriend and I watched the premiere of Columbo: Columbo Likes the Nightlife tonight, and we both loved it! She got me hooked on Columbo when I first met her a couple of years ago and now we both try to catch it on TV whenever it's on... which brings me to the newest Columbo movie.

I read that ABC tried to add youth appeal to the ongoing Columbo movies. Since I'm not a teenager or twenty-something anymore, I don't know if it was successful with those demographic groups, but for myself, it was a worthy addition to the Columbo films and kept me glued to the screen.

Kudos to director Jeffrey Reiner and writer Michael Alaimo for creating a believable and gripping story with three-dimensional characters that Columbo could play along with. If you thought recent Columbo movies were still stuck in the 70s and 80s in their style, check this one out! I'm sure it was the director's previous work as an editor that helped create the never-dull-and-always-something-worthwhile-to-watch pacing. The rave scene was a good idea for the background for this story. It contrasts nicely with Columbo's polite and conservative character traits.

And it was fun to see Steve Schirripa (who plays Bobby on the Sopranos) in a small role. I would have liked to see more of him, but that's a minor quibble.

Keep up the excellent work! I would definitely want to see the same director and writer creating future Columbo movies. As for Peter Falk, he's irreplaceable! It's great seeing him in anything.

Catch this movie on DVD if it ever comes out in this format (fingers crossed) or on TV. 9/10

I have been a huge fan of the Columbo episodes. I liked this episode, it was pretty solid if somewhat ending to a great series, that has had some treasures(especially in the early seasons) as well as the odd disappointment. The story is pretty gripping mostly, but a little too formulaic and offers little new really. I liked the disco music, but felt the background score could at times have been more atmospheric and less obvious. Also Matthew Rhys tries his best but I found Justin one of the blander Columbo murderers for some reason and I can't quite put my finger on why at the moment. However, Jennifer Sky manages to be sexy as well as fun and touching, and while he is a little too old and perhaps too mellow Peter Falk delivers still as Columbo. Columbo Likes the Nightlife is filmed beautifully, looking modern but the darker scenes give it some suspense and foreboding, it is well directed and the script is engaging, not as clever or as intelligent as most of the other Columbo scripts, but above average still. All in all, decent episode but part of me was wanting of a stronger finish. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The "New Columbo" of the 1990s and into the 21st century have been a bit too whimsical at times but this story has much more edge to it. Columbo behaves more like an LA detective and the villains are shown to be more complex. The filming of the episode shows much more inventiveness than in recent episodes and the acting is first rate by all the cast. Falk gives an effective performance and conveys Columbo as being a little world weary - he's seen this all before but still loves his job too much. The makers of this episode have clearly tried to inject some energy into what was threatening to become a stale property. Overall, a refreshing return to form and a good finale for Columbo if this turns out to be the last ever episode.