I was fond of the fly-on-the-wall style they used to film this. Diane and Woody are masters of improvisation and at no point did I feel like this was scripted - they seemed like a real couple arguing over the suspected murder of their neighbour.

Their arguments in this movie are funny - like really funny. Diane plays a frenzied, nosy woman who pries into the lives of other people to make up for the discontent she feels about her own.

Woody plays a loopy older gentleman who has long since been castrated by his overbearing wife and who spirals into a panic attack every time the mildest stressor appears.

The duo is electric because they compliment each other's delusion well. They are basically tripping over each other this entire movie, blathering barely coherent sentences whilst trying to solve a murder case that in all likelihood never happened.

Except it did, and it turns out this pair of conspiracy theorists were onto something all along. This movie is funny, witty and full of one liners.

The scene in which they, along with their investigative cohorts, concoct a plan to expose Paul and then the following scene where they execute it by phone is pure comic genius. It's rare that I laugh out loud for a film but I did here.

Overall, this is a hidden gem and I consider it massively entertaining. Not to be missed.

Light and insubstantial – the thinnest movie Allen made since 'Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy', but still breezy and fun entertainment, and still manages to have a deeper emotional resonance about working through mid-life crises and relationships. The camera-work is a mix. The first half is annoyingly hand-held much of the time, for no particularly good reason, but the second half has some very nice lighting, and a fun 'Lady From Shanghi' homage at the climax.

A flawed film, that one can pick at if you're in a cranky mood, but also one with wit and panache that you can enjoy if you let go of your inner film critic and just watch a master humorist simply tell a good yarn.

In Manhattan, Carol (Diane Keaton) and her husband Larry Lipton (Woody Allen) are coming home late night when they meet their next door neighbors Lillian (Lynn Cohen) and Paul House (Jerry Adler) in the elevator. Lillian and Paul invite their neighbors to drink coffee with them in their apartment and Lillian shows her treadmill to Carol and Paul shows his collection of stamps to Larry. While drinking coffee, the elderly couple tells that they have been married for twenty-eight years and they have a twin tomb in the cemetery. Lillian tells that she is in good shape and uses her treadmill everyday.

On the next night, Carol and Larry go to see The Flying Dutchman in the theater and when they come back home, they learn that Lillian has died of heart attack. A couple of days later, Carol and Larry meet Paul on the street and Carol believes he is too perky for a widower that has just lost his beloved wife. When Carol accidentally finds an urn with Lillian's ashes in Paul's kitchen, she suspects that Paul has killed Lillian and comments with her friend Ted (Alan Alda). They decide to investigate her neighbor and Carol steals the keys of Paul's apartment from the super. She finds that Paul will travel to Paris and not to Caribbean as he had told to Larry and she, with a woman called Helen Moss. When Carol sees by chance Lillian alive in a bus, her curiosity increases and she decides to go further in her investigation.

Yesterday I was setting in order and cleaning my films on the shelf, and I decided to see again the VHS "Manhattan Murder Mystery". Last time I saw this film was in the 90's and I did not recall the story in details. Woody Allen is one of my favorite directors and actor, and that is the reason why I do not dare to say that this film is one of his best films because I love practically all his filmography.

"Manhattan Murder Mystery" has mystery, suspense and the refined and witty humor typical from Woody Allen. One of my favorite moments is when Larry compares the need to Carol returning to her shrink with a GM's recall. Another very funny moment is when the clumsy Larry plays the wrong tape during the phone conversation with Paul. If the reader wants to spend 104 minutes laughing, watch "Manhattan Murder Mystery" since this film is funny even for those that are not fans of Woody Allen. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil):"Um Misterioso Assassinato em Manhattan" ("A Mysterious Murder in Manhattan")

Note: On 23 October 2020, I saw this film again.