Search - The Perfect Murder - The Merchant Ivory Collection on DVD

Pleasant Mystery; Great Bombay Setting

C. O. DeRiemer | San Antonio, Texas, USA | 02/18/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Inspector Ghote (Naseeruddin Shah), the famous Bombay detective created by H. R. F. Keating, is called in to investigate an assault on an old retainer in a wealthy Bombay household. He's told this is top priority. He also is charged with discovering a diamond smuggling ring which, he's told, is top priority. And he is assigned to escort a visiting Swedish criminologist (Stellan Skarsgard) and to demonstrate the high quality of Bombay's police activities. Making a good impression on the Swede, he is told, is top priority.



The Inspector Ghote in Keating's mysteries is a mild-mannered, intelligent, persistent and dedicated cop. He has an overbearing boss and a wife who loves him but who also knows what she wants. Naseeruddin Shah, a famous Indian actor, does an excellent job as the Inspector. Skarsgard plays the young Swede as enthusiastic, brave and a little callow. He and Ghote eventually develop mutual respect and liking. Some of the crooks involved with the diamonds come to believe that Skarsgard is a diamond thief, too, which causes a number of complications, some amusing and some dangerous.



The plot lines eventually come together in a reasonably satisfying way. The Perfect Murder is a pleasant mystery, interesting because of the local color (it was shot in Bombay and a good deal of the action takes place in Bombay neighborhoods and streets) and the performances of the actors.



This is one of the releases under the "Merchant-Ivory Productions" name. Ismail Merchant was the executive producer. The DVD is better than average, but the image and audio are both a little soft."

Slow-moving, Rather Silly Mystery

Donegal Dan | Southwest United States | 02/07/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I was hoping for better in this film by Merchant Ivory. I have liked some of their work and others not so much. However, this mystery set in India with an Indian police detective looking for diamond smugglers/thieves is definitely not one of their best and if a series was planned, I trust better was thought of the idea. The Indian detective who is the central figure is supposed to be intelligent but long-suffering and appealingly maladroit with his superiors and his wife at home. However, I found him boring and colorless, and at times downright sappy. Stellen Starsgaard, who looked very young here, plays an almost superfluous character, a visiting Swedish criminologist, who is even more inept than the detective. The plot, in addition to being slow-moving, is rather inane and jerky and overall not very involving. I don't know if the book from which this was derived was good but if so, I would have to say that it was not done justice in this film adaptation."