Getting Away with Murder

The best thing that I can say about this movie is that I did not turn it off. I would have to add however that I was tempted to many times. This was potentially a funny movie, but it just didn't quite make it. Perhaps the continual narrative by Ackroyd did not help. The standard of acting was reasonable. The standard of direction was reasonable. The story was reasonable and had the potential of making a good movie. The 91 minutes of run time seemed more like 180 minutes. The movie was too drawn out and the comedy was too little and not funny enough. Of all the actors, I thought that Lily Tomlin gave the best performance. Ackroyd was OK, but as his was the main role, it was going to take more than OK to make the movie good. Jack Lemmon was unimpressive and his accent unconvincing. I gave it 5 from 10, and that was probably being generous.

Penny Marshall produced this?

Harvey Miller, who wrote "Private Benjamin," wrote this?

Lemmon, Aykroyd, Hunt, and the incomparable LILY TOMLIN agreed to work on it?

Tasteless, unfunny, painful to watch.

Whatever moral point they were trying to make, and whatever humor they were trying to achieve, this film just... just hurt. Hurt my eyes, and hurt the reputations of all involved.

I'm embarrassed for all involved, and chagrined that I felt I had to watch to the end, to justify writing a review to warn others. Fifteen minutes would have been more than enough.

Dan Ayrkoyd, looking boxy and well-scrubbed, plays a college professor in Massachusetts who is caught up in the media frenzy surrounding elderly German neighbor Jack Lemmon, who has been accused of being a notorious Nazi war criminal living under an assumed identity; when Lemmon tells Aykroyd he intends to leave the country in protest, Aykroyd plots to poison him as a form of historical justice. Writer-director Harvey Miller probably intended this dark-hued comedy to be a twisted hoot, in the "Eating Raoul" vein. He apparently gained the trust of his talented performers--and comedy vet Penny Marshall was swayed enough to co-produce--but something must have gotten lost in the translation from screenplay to film, because there are hardly any laughs in this scenario. The cast plays it poker-faced...perhaps they weren't sure just how over-the-top the presentation should be. Results are curiously lukewarm, and full of dumb jokes like one involving Lemmon's dog being attracted to Aykroyd's crotch--which Miller then repeats, as a TV director might. *1/2 from ****

I'm only reviewing this because of all the bad reviews. I gave it a 7 though I may change it to a 6 later. I really don't see why people had such a major problem with this movie. It was fun. "You call this justice?!?!?!"

Basically, don't go into the movie expecting some crazy comedy with an intricate plot line. This movie is just a light-hearted movie to have a few laughs though; no masterpiece, but certainly not a 3.4 either. (That's what it was rated when I wrote this review.)

I found this movie not as bad as everybody says it is. I think its pretty entertaining. I really liked the plot of the film.