Movie Description
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton join forces again in this charming riff on such murder mystery classics as REAR WINDOW, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Allen and Keaton play Larry and Carol Lipton, a New York couple reevaluating their life together after their only son goes off to college. Carol thinks they have fallen into a boring life, but when one of their neighbors suddenly dies, Carol starts wondering if foul play was involved. Thrust further into the mystery by their friends Ted (Alan Alda) and Marcia (Anjelica Huston), the Liptons soon find themselves in the middle of murder and mayhem, with their relationship--as well as their lives--hanging in the balance. Seeing Allen and Keaton interact onscreen again, after a hiatus of several years, is a joy. The film moves at a fast pace, with Allen's trademark fabulous shots of New York landmarks. But the ending, which marvelously mimics the famous ending from Orson Welles's THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, is a tour de force that should not be missed.
| Credits | | Producer: | Robert Greenhut | | Cast: | Anjelica Huston, Joy Behar, Ron Rifkin |
| Details | | Edition: | Closed Captioned; Subtitled French |
Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1 Encoding
Keep Case
Theatrical Trailers
Scene Selections, The film was shot on location in New York City.
The part of Carol Lipton was originally meant for Mia Farrow, but Woody and Mia were undergoing well-publicized problems at the time.
Well known for his attendance at New York Knicks home games at Madison Square Garden, Allen begins MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY with a scene at the Garden--but it's a New York Rangers-Washington Capital hockey game.
The film includes a clip from DOUBLE INDEMNITY, the 1944 film noir classic about infidelity and murder.
The Richard Wagner opera Larry and Carol go to see in the film is DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER.
The song over the opening credits is Bobby Short singing Cole Porter's "I Happen to Like New York"; in HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, there is a scene of Woody Allen at a Bobby Short performance at the Carlyle Hotel in New York.
MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY is Allen's twenty-third feature film. The prolific director makes it a practice to try to make one film a year.
Muze Movies Supervisor Mark Rifkin was caught by Allen and Keaton walking down the street, ruining one of the shots; Rifkin was later at the very same hockey game that begins the film.
Editorial Reviews
"...At its amiable best, the new film offers glimmers of its stars' charming, quarrelsome old teamwork....Gratifyingly gentle and uncomplicated..."
New York Times - p.C13 - Janet Maslin
"...This confection keeps the chuckles coming....As neurotic a farce as can be imagined, and Allen and Brickman have amusingly festooned the plot with an array of topical and psychological concerns..."
Variety - Todd McCarthy
"...MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY is an accomplished balancing act..."
Chicago Sun-Times - p.45 - Roger Ebert
"Keaton snoops, husband Woody is humiliated, and a bravura finale honors a legendary scene (no fair specifying) in film noir history..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (03/22/2005)
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