Woody Allen | 103 mins | DVD | PG / PG
Woody Allen mixes a bit of the thriller into his usual relationship-based comedy/drama style, with effective results. The combination produces an engaging thriller with the usual character-focused drama woven around it, and a decent dash of comedy too. The first half hour or so is a tad slow, but the pace picks up as the story rattles into the second half.
Murder Mystery has been criticised as lightweight — the comedy stops the thriller being too serious, the thriller stops the drama being the focus, and they both prevent the comedy from overpowering — but Allen has dealt with these elements in isolation elsewhere, so it’s refreshing to see him do more than merely repeat himself.
This is an underrated gem in Allen’s relatively vast body of work.
100Films.co.uk 