Woody Allen has said that the original script for "Annie Hall" would have made a three hour film, with the second half finding Alvy and Annie (Allen and Diane Keaton) embroiled in a "Rear Window" like mystery around a suspicious neighbor.
In 1977, he dropped the back half of the script and made the "Annie Hall" we know, arguably his finest film.
Allen often comments that he never throws scripts away, he just recycles them, which explains why in 1993, we find Allen and Keaton embroiled in a MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY.
Larry (Allen) and Carol (Diane Keaton) are a NYC couple who have just sent their son Nick (Zach Braff) off to college.
Carol busies herself with growing suspicions that a neighbor they have just met has killed his wife. Paul House (great character actor Jerry Adler from "Rescue Me") seems to pile on suspicion for Carol with his every move, while Larry sees nothing wrong.
Their friend Ted (a perfectly smarmy Alan Alda) has designs on Carol and plays along, encouraging her theories and spending time with her to stake out Paul's every move.
There are a ton of laughs, plenty of smart dialogue and a fantastic cast from top to bottom, including Anjelica Houston, Ron Rifkin and Braff in a very early role.
As Allen and Keaton get deeper and deeper in the mystery, the chuckles turn into big laughs and Allen's script keeps you guessing, while heavily referencing classic films by Hitchcock and Welles.
One of Allen's best in the 90's, it's no mystery that this gets a solid B.
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