Grand Central Murder is a classic whodunnit where a woman is murdered using an unknown method in an enclosed space. What starts as a film where you think the killer is obvious quickly turns into a mystery with a ton of suspects. I appreciate the multitude of possible murderers far more than a movie that is solely a man-on-the-run story. They have motives all over the place mostly because they make the victim a thoroughly unpleasant person. Her past doesn't cast a very favorably light on her either. It almost plays like one of those murder mystery dinners where a group of community theater actors play out a case while you eat and then pause to allow the audience to guess the killer. However, my struggle with these stories is that they feel open-ended almost to the point that the writer could restructure the ending to make a different person guilty each time. In that case, can you really guess the truth at all?
I love the fact that one of the suspects is actually a private eye. The back-and-forth between the police detective and this PI is delightful. It brought some good comedy to the film, and occasionally made me wonder whether they were using it as a bluff and he might actually be the guilty party. I am all for a movie that is efficient and doesn't drag, but I would almost say that Grand Central Murder was too short. I would have enjoyed it if they allowed some of the scenes to breathe a little more, and gave you time to suspect someone of being the killer before they exonerated them and moved on 2 minutes later. It didn't diminish the fun of the mystery, but possibly held it back from being truly great. There's a lot going for Grand Central Murder, though. It is a complex mystery with a few twists and turns, and some solid acting. However, it left me with one lingering question...do railway cars typically have a fully-functional shower?
I love the fact that one of the suspects is actually a private eye. The back-and-forth between the police detective and this PI is delightful. It brought some good comedy to the film, and occasionally made me wonder whether they were using it as a bluff and he might actually be the guilty party. I am all for a movie that is efficient and doesn't drag, but I would almost say that Grand Central Murder was too short. I would have enjoyed it if they allowed some of the scenes to breathe a little more, and gave you time to suspect someone of being the killer before they exonerated them and moved on 2 minutes later. It didn't diminish the fun of the mystery, but possibly held it back from being truly great. There's a lot going for Grand Central Murder, though. It is a complex mystery with a few twists and turns, and some solid acting. However, it left me with one lingering question...do railway cars typically have a fully-functional shower?