Columbo: Murder with Too Many Notes

The decent assembling of Billy Connelly as the murderer and Patrick McGoohan behind the camera, merely compounds the disappointment of this largely unsatisfying, lukewarm 1999 Columbo TV movie, which sees Connelly play a highly-respected Hollywood composer who is forced to murder the dissatisfied understudy he has used to saved his flagging career.

Strongly enough plotted; a rather good platform is established in the early stages, but the momentum is barely maintained simply because the supporting clues are patchy in nature and moreover, the screen chemistry between Falk and Connelly is decidedly hit-and-miss; in fact Connelly's portrayal struggles to make an decent impact as he seems to be caught between a serious and a comedic interpretation of his character.

The finale is also on the bizarre side and is staged at the murder scene on top of a building: Columbo's evidence is not particularly overwhelming and Connelly's character more or less turns round and gives himself up. Also, in an odd error of fact, Columbo asks the deceased's partner to teach him to play Columbo's trademark song "this old man" on the piano, but he says that it is something that his wife hums; when we know that it is actually him who usually whistles the song.

A largely disappointing effort, which stands to date, as the penultimate Columbo adventure in its history and one that will not be recalled in a positive light.

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.

PLOT: A popular Hollywood composer (Billy Connolly) murders his apprentice (Chad Willett) who's been ghostwriting most of his scores after the young man quits and the threat of exposure looms.

COMMENTARY: There are many things to appreciate about this installment, like the believable and creative set-up: The apprentice practicing on the roof of the theater, the long dormant elevator and the conductor's motive, which isn't just envy, but the threat of ruin and mass embarrassment. Jealousy goes back to Shakespeare and ancient Greek theater, but I find placing envy and status into the framework of Oscar-winning composition compelling. The episode is also an interesting window into the behind-the-scenes activity surrounding the scores to major films.

Yet there are seeming problems with the muddled ending, which can be traced to Patrick McGoohan's rewrites as director. He decided to use a musical demonstration at the climax in order to be theatrical, but the way it's done does not lend itself to a satisfying "gotcha" response. The scriptwriter, Jeffrey Cava, included several clues in his teleplay that failed to make it to the screen after McGoohan's revisions. For instance, the ultimate clue in Cava's script was particularly convicting and impossible for the murderer to dodge, but McGoohan prudently eliminated it for practical reasons. On top of this, it's dishonest to say there is "no evidence" in McGoohan's version. For detailed answers Google The Lt. Columbo Forum and punch-in Murder with Too Many Notes.

Others complain that Columbo's slow drive home with the conductor is filler material. But the rumpled detective already sniffed him out as the murderer and needed to spend time with him to accumulate evidence and start wearing the suspect down in order to eventually break him. Columbo knows that when people get seriously aggravated they start saying & doing things they never intended to and thus reveal evidence against them.

As shot, "Murder with Too Many Notes" is somewhat of a headscratcher, but the answers ARE there if you look for them. Besides, what's wrong with head-scratching in a murder mystery?

GRADE: B/B-

I am a HUGE Columbo fan.. My trusty Tivo has become my best friend, and I never miss an episode! I don't want to criticize a Columbo, for fear that Peter Falk will read the comments and decide it's time to put the old detective away..

But, I've gotta say - out of the long list of episodes I've seen, this is by far the most disappointing. Not only was it very unrealistic - the forensics (for a 2000 movie) were very out of date, but the plot [the ending specifically] left us dangling.

I didn't even realize it was over! When he confessed and joked about prison, we were like "huh?? what happened?? why would he confess??".. Columbo is a brilliant detective, and this one sold him short.

I know future episodes will make up for it.. [hint hint].. he's not ready to be put down.. I hope if the powers that be read this, they will realize that Columbo has a lot of life left in him, but I hope they also choose scripts that really are his traditional style: the Columbo style we've grown to love.

For this episode specifically, definitely not the best.. but if you're a Columbo junkie, definitely worth a watch - even a bad Columbo makes you smile. =)

The murder plot is actually pretty ingenious, and the murderer, actor Billy Connoly, is quite interesting as Columbo's foil. But the writing is dreadful, as it leaves tons of stuff unexplained and puts in tons of stuff for no seeming purpose or connection to the plot. Early on, when Columbo drives the killer home in an endlessly long scene, it is obviously for some purpose, but that purpose is never explained. An extended focus on a certain aspect of the victim's clothing is likewise endlessly extended, but leaves it very unclear as to what Columbo is seeking to prove with it. Finally, in the final scene, he re-enacts the murder in a staged childlike manner, bringing up issues that seemingly have no connection to his proof, and offers a final "proof" that is one of the least convincing in Columbo history, yet the murderer smilingly gives up w/o any argument. And the final big clue is obtained after the medical examiner overlooked an obvious piece of evidence that would have cost any ME his job. What is most frustrating is that for long stretches of this movie, it is actually highly enjoyable, and with the fine acting of the murderer and the directing of the great Columbo contributor Patrick McGoohan, it could easily have been turned into a dandy episode, if only the writing was at more than a B-movie level.