Guest Post - Murder By Death

Plot: Following an Oscar-nominated script penned by Neil Simon, millionaire Lionel Twain (Truman Capote) invites the five most brilliant private eyes to a dinner that turns into a murder investigation with a million-dollar prize going to the one who solves the case. The all-star cast includes Peter Falk, James Coco, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith and Eileen Brennan, all playing characters based on famous literary detectives. via.

Lyn won November's tagline and instead of picking a new tagline for December, she chose to do a guest post instead. This is our first guest post and I'm personally really happy that Lyn chose to do one. I trust her opinion on movies.

Why Murder by Death for Nicole? I picked Murder by Death for you because I KNOW you hadn't seen it. I've always gotten mixed reviews from people who have watched it, but I had a feeling you might enjoy it. Besides being a witty and dry comedy, which I love, it has a pretty brilliant cast. Most notably, Truman Capote, who I'm a big fan of. It's one of the few films he steps in front of the camera for. Murder By Death takes the clue-esque plot to a different level. Everything is exaggerated, from the lighting to the acting, making it that much more humorous. The dialogue is outrageous and non stop entertaining. It's a great recommendation if you're looking for a classic, light hearted comedy.


Nicole's Rating: B+

Nicole's Review: I actually watched the movie twice in the time I had it rented. Really smart movie with some really great actors. Also, apparently James Cromwell's first movie (you'll know him from Babe, Secretariat, The Queen, to name a few) - what a handsome young man he was! Anyway, there are some super laugh out loud, quotable lines from this movie: "I'm not a Frenchie, I'm a Belgie!", "Locked, from the inside. That can only mean one thing. And I don't know what it is." Not to mention a butler named Jamesir Bensonmum. Fabulous! And hilarious.

I only thought it ended too quickly. I think this is becoming a pattern with me. I always have a problem with the wrap up. It was just - for such a fantastically funny movie, I thought the ending was rather abrupt. It was nonsensical because it was supposed to be - but it could have been drawn out just a bit more.