'Perfect Crime' Play

 

We support local theater and lately we've seen a few plays at the New Britain Rep:  http://nbrep.org/    Last night we saw a production of a murder mystery called Perfect Crime that's still running Off Broadway in NYC. I checked the play's website to learn about its history: http://www.perfect-crime.com/   This show has been running since 1987 and my first question is why??

 

Following the plot was a challenge since the events are more confusing than mysterious. If you ask me or my wife to offer a plot summary, you're out of luck. This story about a celebrity psychologist/author who is accused of murdering her husband who appears to be still alive is so convoluted and improbable to the point of tiresome that we didn't care what happened when the play was over except to be glad it was over. Her character kept shifting back & forth from dictatorial predator to frightened victim to where you didn't know why. The police inspector sent to investigate the husband's death is unbelievable and more so as he falls for her. If he's supposed to be acting dumb like Peter Falk's Columbo to smoke out the guilty, he comes across as just plain dumb. All the pieces of this yawn fest come together at the end but accomplished in an unrealistic and unconvincing manner. I've seen better and mercifully shorter episode's of  TV's Murder She Wrote and for free.

 

How this play received good reviews is the real mystery here. Years ago we've seen playwright Warren Manzi act in Sam Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class at the Yale Rep in New Haven and possibly on Broadway as the lead in Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy, that role will be confirmed when we locate the original theater program in the basement.  As for this production, the cast & crew did their best and were given a round of perfunctory applause by the audience who appeared to be as befuddled and eager as us to leave. Let's just say this was a good production of a bad play. The only crime perpetrated here was on the paying audience.

 

 

'Definitely, Maybe' or passing The Mom Test

Abigail Breslin & Ryan Reynolds in  Definitely, Maybe.

Watch the trailer: http://movies.aol.com/movie/definitely-maybe/26919/main

 As a rule, I usually wait for romantic comedies and romances to come to DVD.  I'm not knocking these so-called Chick Flicks but I prefer to see other types of movies like action and sci-fi/fantasies on the big screen where you can better appreciate the visuals. These smaller films play fine on my 32" TV where screen size is not important.

What is a Mom Movie? Since we take my 89-year-old mother to a movie on Saturdays, we find one that will please her as well as us. She also likes action comedies and strong dramas but nothing too bloody or with graphic sex scenes. We took her to see Definitely, Maybe and we enjoyed it as much as her.

 

Ryan Reynolds, who was pretty funny in Blade 3 and Waiting, has his self-deprecating sense of humor toned down here as a divorcing dad rehashing his past romances to his persistent, inquisitive daughter played by Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin. She wants to hear about all of his former women but he makes her guess which one turned out to be her mother. And we wait too until the end as most of the film is played out in flashbacks during the Clinton years.

 

And it's a nice wait too as the drama and humor unfolds with even balance. Seeing Reynolds in a more sympathetic role seems out of place but proves rewarding. Whether this will lead to more similar roles shall be seen. All the actresses playing his three loves offer fine support as they blend into the story as well as Kevin Kline who almost steals the movie playing a garrulous, soused college Professor and lover of Rachel Weisz who's torn between the two men. Isla Fisher, who was so good in The Wedding Crashers, is even better here as another woman providing the voice of common sense in Reynolds' life. And Breslin is appealing in a precocious but not cloying way as his daughter whose questions set the plot in motion.  She almost melts your heart with her wide-eyed innocence.

 

Definitely, Maybe passed the Mom Test and I have to admit I was a little weepy at the conclusion. No cheap sentiment here. Just sweetness without saccharine and a good time for all. For a thoughtful review, go to: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/movies/14maybe.html?ref=movies