BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Mark Turner I found it odd that while I remembered the name of this movie there was little about it that I recalled. Not just the story or those involved but I didn't recall much notice of the movie even coming out. Little more than the title. After watching it I found that even stranger since this was easily one of the most accessible Woody Allen films I'd ever seen. Perhaps it was due to the fact people expected one thing from him and this didn't fit that mold. The end result was a pleasant surprise.Diane Keaton is Carol Lipton, a homemaker who dreams of opening her own restaurant (she took a cooking class after all). Carol is married to Larry (Allen), a book editor at Harper. Their son is about to graduate and the couple have fallen into the marriage slump, that time when a couple feels they have no focus once the common bond of child rearing is gone.One night they have a chance encounter with their new neighbors, Paul and Lillian House (Jerry Adler and Lynn Cohen). The elderly couple invite them in for coffee to get acquainted. Paul shows off his stamp collection to Larry while Lillian shows the treadmill she uses to Carol. After leaving Carol worries that she and Larry are becoming that old couple, like the one they just met.The next day when they get home Carol and Larry find that Lillian has died as her body is taken from the apartment. A few days later Carol suspects something is up because Paul just doesn't seem to act like a man who has just lost his wife. When she hears his door open and Paul leaving home at 1AM soon after she begins to investigate just what happened, going so far as break into his apartment.When Larry tells her she's losing her mind she takes her case to their mutual friend Ted (Alan Alda). Recently divorced Larry has commented that Ted always seemed to have a thing for Carol which she denies. With each scene it becomes obvious that Larry was right. Ted and Carol begin tracking down clues she found in Paul's apartment, discovering a potential young lover as well as a twist most won't see coming.Larry, in the meantime, is working with an author named Marcia Fox (Anjelica Huston) on her new book. He learns she played poker to make ends meet at one time and the two plan to meet for lunch so she can teach him how to play better. It's a flirtation on her part but a nerve racking meeting for Larry who still loves Carol. Seeing the chance to take care of two issues at once, he sets Marcia up on a date with Ted.As the movie progresses the real question involved is was there actually a murder here or is it all in Carol's mind? Was she so bored with her life, so worried that she would have nothing left that she turned the innocent death of a woman from a heart attack into a murder most foul? Or has she stumbled on to what could be the perfect murder?It may all sound serious but the movie is more of a screwball comedy than it may appear. Both Keaton and Allen tend to play on the stereotypes they've played before in previous Allen films. Allen is all nerves and flutters, his neurosis on full display for all around to see. Keaton is the woman who wants to seem in control but at the same time is a bit scatterbrained at times. They are a match made in Heaven even if they don't recognize it.The flirtations both experience while dealing with their own issues with each other are played as comical rather than salacious. Both might enjoy the fact that someone is flirting with them but at their core they love one another and have no intention of parting ways.It is the murder, or at least the potential of their having been a murder, that brings them closer together while at the same time late in the film nearly tears them apart. The jealousies Larry has towards Ted early on are mirrored by Carols later when she thinks he's attracted to Marcia. As with the minor issues they both have and the similarities in behavior, their jealousies show how alike they are.What makes a stand out performance in a film is the believability of the actors in the roles they are playing. Those that are bad you find yourself knowing they are acting in each scene. Those that are good you watch and lose yourself in the performance, never realizing until the final credits that you weren't watching a slice of life but a performance. All involved here present that second form of acting. The only one that seems to play it too far over the top is perhaps Allen. Having seen the same nebbish style character as he's played for years in one more movie doesn't make the character any more convincing.It might seem like the movie is a thriller but in reality there is a lot of comedy involved here. Not just in the situations involved but the dialogue between characters as well. It's better not to share those moments and allow the viewer to enjoy them as they come along. But there are plenty of moments to smile or laugh at here.There is also a nice homage if you will to director Orson Welles that Allen as director of the film includes. Paul owns several movie theaters that play vintage films. At the climax of this film the movie LADY FROM SHANGHAI is on the big screen showing the sequence of Welles in the mystery house sliding down the curving slide. This is juxtaposed with the action taking place in the film there behind the screen, a stage covered with old mirrors as two adversaries confront one another. It works incredibly well.Allen fans will want to add this to their collection. If you're not an Allen fan give it a watch anyway, it's a nice comedy/whodunit that will entertain you from start to finish. Twilight Time is releasing the film and as always have done a great job of offering it in pristine condition. Their usual extras of a music & effects track and the theatrical trailer are on hand as well. As with all of their other releases this is limited to just 3,000 copies so if you want your Allen collection to be complete pick one up soon.

tylergee005 This movie had that kind of Allen spirit that you come to expect. I thought it could've been one of his best, but unfortunately there is one thing that ruins the whole picture for me....Diane Keaton. She may be the single worst actor I've ever seen. She says absolutely nonsensical quips, always interrupting, stuttering, looking and acting completely too focused-unnatural. It's quite obvious that she, and everyone, is having to improvise certain parts of their lines, and she just cannot in any way, shape or form pull it off. To such a degree that it's completely distracting and off-putting in every scene she's in. Once you notice just how awkward and unnatural she acts/sounds, you'll never look at it the same. And it single handily ruined the movie for me. Now the plot is also a bit thin which I normally wouldn't fault on it's own, but it instead mainly relied on the back and forth of Allen and Keaton, which as you can imagine, was completely unbearable at times. And the camera work at certain parts (not the zooms, I quite liked those) was a bit odd, again staying far away, relying on the whole group or characters to be in shot while they stumble around trying to get hired at a 3rd rate improve club. But there's still some enjoyment to be had with this picture. Perhaps in Allen wasn't starting in it it'd be a 3, but I'm always so intrigued by him while he's on screen.

SnoopyStyle Larry (Woody Allen) and Carol Lipton (Diane Keaton) are a middle age NYC couple. Their next door neighbors are an elderly couple Paul (Jerry Adler) and Lillian House (Lynn Cohen). When Lillian ends up dead, Carol is suspicious of Paul who is a little too perky. Their divorced friend Ted (Alan Alda) helps out causing a bit of jealousy from Larry. Marcia Fox (Anjelica Huston) is a card playing novelist and editor Larry tries to set her up with Ted.The gang is back for a little bit of a murder mystery. It has the fun chemistry of an older Woody and Diane pairing. Woody is his neurotic alter-ego. Diane's driven investigation is charming. They are still hilarious together. The pacing is a steady stream of nervous talking and I do wish that Woody breaks it up with something more intense. It does turn into more of a caper in the end. It's a fine movie for Woody fans.

cultfilmfreaksdotcom This frantic comedy, released during the tumultuous tabloid scandal between Woody Allen and Mia Farrow, is co-scripted by Marshall Brickman, Allen's writing partner for MANHATTAN and ANNIE HALL. ANNIE HALL was originally conceived as a murder mystery before reimagined as the rom-com we know and love, and here's a double-whammy collaboration: Diane Keaton, Woody's co-star/love interest during the seventies, returns to the iconic director's canon. And the results are disastrous.Allen and Keaton play a THIN MAN "Nick and Nora" like couple who meet their elderly neighbors – a seemingly normal stamp collecting coot and his talkative wife. The wife dies and the husband doesn't seem very jaded. Keaton, overacting desperately, investigates the possible murder, which at first seems a long shot. When she's not tailing the accused through the New York, or teaming up with her charming friend Alan Alda, the film consists of tedious dialog between Allen and Keaton, whose chemistry is, to quote Alvy Singer in ANNIE HALL, "A dead shark." Woody Allen delivers flat one-liners like a sleepy clown after the circus has let out. And when the convoluted mystery is solved there's still twenty minutes to figure out what exactly? Although the climax, homage to Orson Welle's THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI using actual scenes of the famous Fun House montage, is a clever twist, the rest is a failed class reunion. And even "worse than the chicken at Tresky's."For More Reviews: www.cultfilmfreaks.com