Film Review: Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

Certain film makers can afford luxury of making films for mostly therapeutic reasons, if they are respected, prolific or hard-working enough. Woody Allen definitely belongs to such category and he used opportunity to try exercising some of his personal demons during what was arguably one of the worst periods of his life. The result of such efforts was Manhattan Murder Mystery, 1993 film which represented somewhat unusual combination of psychological drama, crime thriller and light comedy.

Like in many of his films, Allen appears as protagonist, New York City book editor Larry Lipton. He has been married for decades with Carol (played by Diane Keaton), wife that dreams of starting restaurant business, and with whom he has grown son Nick (played by Zach Braff), who is currently attending college. Their marriage became monotonous, Carol is bored and it takes mere arrival of new neighbours, cinema theatre owner Paul House (played by Jerry Nadler) and his wife Lilian (played by Lynn Cohen) for her to become intrigued. When Lilian shortly afterwards dies of apparent heart-attack, she is surprised to see Paul in unusually cheerful disposition and becomes convinced that he had her wife murdered. Larry is at first sceptical towards Carol’s suspicions, even after which he starts snooping inside Houses’ apartment and find hints that Paul lied to them. Investigation is joined by Ted (played by Alan Alda), playwright who doesn’t hide his romantic inklings towards Carol, while Larry is taking advice from writer Marcia Fox (played by Anjelica Huston). Evidence starts to accumulate and points to foul play, with possible motive being Paul’s apparent affair with young actress Helen Moss (played by Melanie Norris).

Allen made Manhattan Murder Mystery just in the middle of major scandal erupting over his affair with Soon-Yi, adopted daughter of Allen’s long time romantic partner and onscreen collaborator Mia Farrow. Allen has actually based script on some of his original ideas for Annie Hall, “Oscar”-awarded 1977 film that is now considered among his most successful work. Role of Carol was originally written for Farrow, but their break-up forced Allen to seek an alternative. He found it in the form of his old romantic partner, muse and onscreen collaborator Diane Keaton, with whom he had made many successful films in 1970s, including Annie Hall. This proved very good decision, because Keaton in this film plays the actual protagonist, a middle-aged woman who fights boredom and monotony by becoming amateur detective because of something that might be nothing but combination of coincidence and her fantasy. Keaton has built her performance on her past roles, using a lot of natural chemistry with Allen, who, despite his usual neurotic persona, actually plays a straight man if Liptons are to be seen as comedy duo. Like in many Allen’s films, the rest of the cast is very good. Alan Alda is good as an old friend that might have hidden agenda, Anjelica Huston radiates intelligence, while Jerry Nadler is efficient as character who is both harmless and sinister at the same time. Allen keeps relatively good tempo, although his direction, especially in the beginning, seems rough around the edges. This is very much due to use of handheld camera, which is at times annoying and it takes some time for audience to get used to. Allen, on the other hand, improves general impression with obvious homage to Classic Hollywood, including famous Thin Man series of films about Manhattan high society couple acting as amateur detectives, as well as film noirs, including Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai, which is explicitly referenced at the very end. Manhattan Murder Mystery isn’t among Allen’s best or most profound films, but it ultimately served its purpose. It allowed great director to get his groove back, forget personal troubles and win critics in a way that would allow him to continue with his work in decades to come.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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