Review of Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) by Anthony M — 01 Mar 2012

One of Allen's greatest nineties' films, his bulk of work is neurotic comedies and iffy dramas. He has hit some home runs with the very subtle Crimes and Misdemeanors and classics such as Manhattan and Annie Hall.

What keeps this film fresh is the fact that it's so realistic in the way it handles both the way the older couple investigated the supposed murder of their neighbor, and the backstory and look into the relationship between them.

The couple who live across the hall from an old couple (Allen and Keaton) are starting their golden years together in cute seclusion, almost as an extension of Annie Hall's storyline, except now the couple has fallen into easy boredom with each other.

Keaton's niche as kooky or quirky makes this film work well, as she runs around trying to solve a crime which might not even have happened. What makes this so great as well is the electricity and childlike glee of the ensemble as they find clues and piece together the events of the murder.

They act like clumsy teenagers all along the way, and yet there is a bitter hostility between every one of these characters as they realize their fate and servitude as married people. Along with the couple are Alan Alda and Anjelica Huston, who both co-starred in an earlier Allen film called Crimes and Misdemeanors, which was a sharp drama.

This was very sweet, a little guarded with the inter-personal relationships between every character, but the plot was delicious. I could have eaten up every morsel as we went along, hanging on the words of the saucy Anjelica Huston and the morbid Diane Keaton.

It's an ensemble work in short, and is really more of a film for experienced middle aged individuals who are fans of the director's, and I'm guessing that's who he made it for, besides being a love letter to New York, as many of his films are.