Columbo: Murder with Too Many Notes (2000) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Patrick McGoohan

Writers (WGA):

Jeffrey Cava (story)
Jeffrey Cava (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

12 March 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Findlay Crawford, a Hollywood film composer and conductor, murders a talented composer/musician who...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Film Composer | Composer | Hollywood | Detective Series

Cast

Peter Falk	...	Columbo
Billy Connolly	...	Findlay Crawford
Richard Riehle	...	Sgt Degarmo
Charles Cioffi	...	Sidney Ritter
Hillary Danner	...	Rebecca
Chad Willett	...	Gabriel McEnery
Scott Atkinson	...	Tony
Obi Ndefo	...	Nathaniel Murphy
Randy Oglesby	...	Joshua Vinten
Luis Avalos	...	Antonio
Harry Danner	...	Fitch
Anne McGoohan	...	Marcia
Herschel Sparber	...	Priestly
Steve O'Connor	...	Throve
Larry Gilman	...	Tomblin

Runtime:

Spain:90 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Studios USA

Trivia:

Although produced in the US, this TV-movie was broadcast first in France, dubbed into French.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the end credits of this film, it lists Richard Levinson as "Sidney Ritter", which is the name of the character who was the film director in this episode. However, Richard Levinson (creator of Columbo) died years before this was made and wasn't an actor. Charles Cioffi actually played Sidney.

Quotes:

Lt. Columbo: Just one more thing, sir.

Movie Connections:

References "Dragnet" (1951)

Soundtrack:

1812 Overture

Enjoyable Columbo film despite a weak ending and some bum notes from Falk

Findlay Crawford is an award winning film composer with a small secret – most of his best work has been written standing on the shoulders of the young, uncredited composer Gabriel McEnery. Now that Gabriel has started asking for some credit and has begun being vocal about it in front of others, Crawford decides that the time is right and placates him with the offer of conducting at a show the next night. However he has no intention of letting this happen and instead drugs Gabriel and puts him on the roof (where he usually hangs out) on top of a defunct lift panel. As he starts his show he times the lift to go to the roof, thus opening the panel and flipping Gabriel's comatose body off the roof to his death. All seems like a pointless waste of young talent to the witnesses but a stray noise tells Columbo that there is more to this than a tragic accident or suicide.

This is the most recent Columbo that I have seen and I was therefore very worried that it would be terrible as some of the ones I've seen from around 1990 have been mostly average at best. However the directing presence of Columbo regular McGoohan made me think again plus the plot summary suggested that, having already caught a Spielberg clone, Columbo was going after John Williams. This may be the case but given that I don't know much about Williams outside of his music so any sly digs at him were lost on me. The plot is pretty clever and it was developed well enough to hold my interest but the ending is really weak and is not enough to trap Crawford even in the world of TV detectives. The direction is good and the film feels quite modern, which I know it is but it was still a new feel for the Columbo movies for me.

The cast are so-so and mostly good. Falk was good for the most part but at times his Columbo seemed to be almost an impression of Columbo; this is most evident when trying to "name that tune" with Crawford's orchestra. Outside of this he is good but it is not his best turn in the mac. Connolly is a solid choice of guest star and he works well with Falk – it is nice to have a genuine big name in the suspect's chair. He is a big character as well and, although toned down from his comic personae, he still provides a good presence. The support isn't that great but it doesn't really matter that much (although Willett looks about 12 years old).

Overall an enjoyable film from the Columbo series despite the weak ending and a performance that isn't Falk's best. Maybe not enough to convince unbelievers that the long running series is deserved but fans will find it easy to enjoy.