Review of Murder by Death (1976) by Cindy I — 15 Sep 2009
The last time I saw this movie, I hated it. I assumed it was because I was 15 at the time and didn't get a lot of the jokes. I had hoped that in the last 33 years I would have learned enough that my wiser self would have enjoyed it more. Nope.
Yes, being a Classic film fan (especially The Thin Man movies and Humphrey Bogart), I got the parodies of the detectives, and I understood the double entrendres that I didn't get as a teen. But other than that, it did absolutely nothing for me. It felt totally stagebound (maybe it was supposed to...Neil SImon wrote the screenplay).The jokes fell flat, the whole blind butler/deaf cook plotline was a complete waste of time, and Iin general I'm not a fan of any of these people, except for Niven and Smith, who I like a little better.
The whole thing feels like a drawn-out variety show sketch. It did remind me also of the film Sleuth, except that Sleiuth is a lot better. One good thing....I can scratch if off the list of films I need to rewatch.
This review of Murder by Death (1976) was written by Cindy I on 15 Sep 2009.
Murder by Death has generally received positive reviews.
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