MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY
A film review by Andrew Hicks
Copyright 1996 Andrew Hicks / Fatboy Productions
(1993) *** (out of four)
This film marked a comeback of sorts for Woody Allen (who's planning a sequel to this movie with Soon-Yi, entitled INDIANA INCEST INCIDENT), a solid comedy piece with a dash of suspense. The murder mystery begins one night as Woody and his wife (Diane Keaton) return from dinner to find their nice old neighbor's wife is dead. What's strange is the night before, Woody and Diane had dinner over at their place and she seemed fine then.
That's all it takes for Diane to contemplate conspiracy. And late that night, when she hears footsteps in the hall of their apartment complex, from a person who gets on the elevator. Oooh, he must have just killed someone. Woody, meanwhile, is his usual uptight, neurotic self, spouting his trademark one-liners. Since Woody won't help her out, Diane starts investigating the murder with their yuppie friend Alan Alda (just back from a war in Korea). This makes Woody kind of mad (you'd be mad too if your name was "Woody"), but instead of punching out Alda (as well someone should), Woody decides to start investigating the murder with his wife for fun.
Sure, it's not much on paper (especially this paper), but trust me, MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY is a good movie. Yeah, I know that's what I said about PORKY'S VI and OVERWEIGHT TEENAGE SLUMBER PARTY , but this time I'm right.
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And two brief, bonus reviews of Allen films... (too short to post separately)
Annie Hall (1977) **** This is pretty much the best Woody Allen movie you'll ever see. This is the one where he plays the neurotic Jew who has troubles with women... yeah, this and about thirty other movies of his, but he's just as entertaining as ever here, as a stand-up comic who reflects on his life and relationship problems. It's mostly an episodic excuse for Woody's trademark one-liners, and I'll be damned if the whole movie isn't hilarious.
Some of the more memorable sequences include Woody explaining the source of his nervousness (growing up in a house built under the Coney Island roller coaster), Woody being hounded by a couple Bronx fans and Woody's marathon viewings of Holocast documentaries. Along the way, he meets first Diane Keaton and then Shelley Duvall. I personally think the thought of Woody Allen and Olive Oyl having sex is inherrently funny, even if Woody's post- coital comment "I think I'm starting to get the feeling back in my jaw" is more than disgusting.
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Zelig (1983) *** Yes, I admit I only watched this movie so I'd have a "Z" review to close out the book with, but upon watching ZELIG, I found it was a clever, funny movie. It comes to us from Woody Allen, who plays Leonard Zelig, an enigmatic man of the 1920's who was a human chameleon, changing races and personalities to match the people he was around. Mia Farrow (believe you Mia) is the psychiatrist convinced she can cure him. The two start out with a professional relationship and move on to a physical one, until he runs off with her adopted Korean daughter (one more Soon-Yi joke won't kill you).
ZELIG is told as a black-and-white documentary, with Allen mixing old newsreel footage with fake interviews. It's more a novelty movie than anything, but Allen still manages to work in a few of his trademark one-liners. For instance, during an early session with Farrow, he assumes the persona of a doctor, saying, "I have to leave now. I teach a course in advanced masturbation at the community college and if I don't get there on time, they start without me." That's Woody for you.
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