The Private Eyes 1980 7+ out of 10 (Murder Mystery)

The Private Eyes 1980   7+ out of 10

I recently revisited The Apple Dumpling Gang and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again on Disney+ and reviewed them over on my Disney blog  The Mouse Minute.  This venture sent me down a Don Knotts / Tim Conway rabbit hole that lead me to this film which for some reason I had overlooked all these years. 

The Private Eyes is a murder mystery detective spoof starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway as rather bad detectives.   Basically, think of the classic A Shot in the Dark, but instead of Peter Sellers you get the comedy duo of Tim Conway and Don Knotts trying to solve a murder mystery in a mansion that includes hidden passages and possibly a ghost.  All of the employees in the mansion are possible suspects of course including the hunchback.

This was a fun murder mystery comedy.  Tim Conway and Don Knotts work so well together as bumbling incompetent detectives.  The movie has the feel of The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (a Don Knotts Haunted house movie)  meets Abbott and Costello.  The film has some really good physical comedy and thrives on the chemistry these two actors have together.  If you are a fan of films like the Pink Panther series and the movie Clue you will definitely enjoy this murder mystery spoof as well.  Check out the trailer for the film below.

For my thoughts on the Apple Dumpling Gang films go here

https://themouseminute.wordpress.com/2020/04/02/the-apple-dumpling-gang-1975-6-out-of-10-disney-family-film-34/ 

https://themouseminute.wordpress.com/2020/04/05/the-apple-dumpling-gang-rides-again-1979-7-out-of-10-disney-family-film-35/

Murder Mystery 2019 7+ out of 10 (Netflix Movie)

Murder Mystery 2019 7+ out of 10

I have grown to really love the movie Just Go With It starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler -so when I first saw the trailer for this direct to Netflix movie--I was excited.   

Murder Mystery re-teams Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston as married couple that decides to finally go on their honeymoon after 15 years of marriage.  Adam Sandler’s character is a New York cop that wants to be a detective and Aniston plays his wife who likes to read Mystery novels.  

On the flight to Europe they get invited on a rich Englishman’s yacht.  This leads to a “Someone in this room is a murderer” plot.  The owner of the yacht gets killed when the lights go off while he is about to change his will. 

The murder mystery itself is just okay, but the dialogue and comic chemistry of Sandler and Aniston as a bickering couple is what makes the film good.  Their characters end up being suspected on the murder and must try and solve the murder themselves as the list of other suspects start dying off.   It’s kind of had the feel of movies like The Out of Towners.  I don’t want to say too much about the plot itself –for fear of giving away any of the mystery –but I would definite recommend it a good Comedy/Mystery film with some decent laughs.  I especially loved how the end of the film set itself up so well for a possible sequel (Mystery Movie fans will definitely catch the reference).

Sandler movies can be so hit and miss—but when he has been teamed up with Aniston and Drew Barrymore those films have worked quite well.