Negative Reaction

I saw Negative Reaction for two reasons, I love Columbo and I love Dick Van Dyke(Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Diagnosis Murder), so this episode was like a match made in heaven. One or two scenes go on for a little too long, but other than that it is a very solid Columbo outing with a lot going for it. It is striking to look at with great photography and locations, and the music is intense enough. The story is involving and well-rounded off at the end, and the script is well written with enough grit and humour to satisfy, especially the scene with Falk and Van Patten, one of my favourite Columbo moments. And the acting is great, Joyce Van Patten is hilarious and Peter Falk is exceptional as Columbo. But it was Dick Van Dyke who was the biggest surprise, he was wonderful in this episode, it is so different from his other roles. Here he plays a ruthless and conniving villain and he does it so well. Overall, a rock solid episode, with a great if different performance from a comedy legend! 9/10 Bethany Cox

I like this Columbo episode. It features American legend, Dick Van Dyke, as the prime suspect in his wife's abduction and kidnapping. His character is an accomplished photographer. He is fed up with his wife and sets up another man who is a paroled criminal to take the fall. Of course, this is Columbo and he will get his man or woman no matter what it takes. I love how Dick Van Dyke's character reveals his dream and nightmare to his wife who has no idea what she is in for. I love the scene with Joyce Van Patten who plays a nun who mistakes Columbo for a homeless person and wants to provide a better raincoat than the one he is wearing. That's another trademark in Columbo episodes, there is often light-hearted humor and Columbo always manages to use his charm and charisma to get away with looking so grim. Anyway, Columbo treats everybody with a kind of dignity that you wouldn't expect.

Dick Van Dyke is a photographer whose artistry gets in the way of the murder of his wife in "Negative Reaction," an excellent Columbo episode. Van Dyke is married to Antoinette Bower, who is such a bitch, Van Dyke doesn't care if he gets caught for murdering her or not. Nevertheless, he goes to great lengths to set things up perfectly. But he doesn't count on the man in the raincoat.

There is a hilarious bit in which Columbo goes to a soup kitchen to try to find a homeless man who witnessed the murder of Van Dyke's accomplice, whom Van Dyke has also killed. The well-meaning nun, beautifully portrayed by Joyce van Patten, gives Columbo some soup and tries to find him another coat, believing him a bum! I dearly love Falk as Columbo, and this is a great episode where he unmasks a murderer who was just a little too artistic for his own good.

NEGATIVE REACTION is a top-classic episode of classic COLUMBO which sees the scripting at the very best for this series. The guest star this time around is none other than Dick Van Dyke, who makes for a delightfully irascible villain whose short-tempered fights with the dogged detective are the stuff of high entertainment.

Van Dyke decides to murder the wife he's grown to hate, except this is a guy who doesn't do things by halves. He sets up a fake kidnapping and eventually commits a double murder in order to cover things up. It doesn't take long for Columbo to smell a rat and begin to hound the man at the heart of it.

NEGATIVE REACTION is notable for an increased comedy quotient with no less than three comic set-pieces to enjoy. The first is when Columbo drives his car into a junkyard; you can guess the result. The second is when he's mistaken for a vagrant at a soup kitchen, and the third is when a driving examiner shares a ride. I love Peter Falk's deadpan acting style in these comedic moments and all of them are priceless, making this one of the very best episodes.

Dick Van Dyke plays a crafty murderer with a well thought out plan to kill his termagant wife. His affable surface appearance contrasts shockingly with the cool calmness with which he commits first one murder and then another one to make sure of his own safety. Along with the serious murder story, this episode has some of the funniest little interludes of all the Columbo movies. I particularly liked the one where Columbo goes to a Catholic soup kitchen for information, and is mistaken by a well-meaning nun for an especially pathetic derelict. Naturally, the first thing she wants to do is to fix him up with a decent raincoat! The conclusion of the movie is almost perfect, but in the final analysis it relies on tricking the murderer into making a slip, and this time it seems a little too pat to be believable. However, that is a minor flaw, and this movie on the whole is one of the best Columbo mysteries.