''Getting Away with Murder'' is a 1996 American

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

film directed and written by Harvey Miller.

Plot

Ethics professor Jack Lambert's ( Dan Aykroyd) neighbor Max Mueller ( Jack Lemmon) is revealed on the

TV news News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televi ...

to be escaped Nazi war criminal Karl Luger, whom the courts sentenced to death. Pressured by the news media's allegations, Mueller plans escape to South America. Angered that Mueller might never pay for his crimes, Lambert takes the drastic step of

poisoning A poison can be any substance that is harmful to the body. It can be swallowed, inhaled, injected or absorbed through the skin. Poisoning is the harmful effect that occurs when too much of that substance has been taken. Poisoning is not to ...

him by injecting

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

into some of the fruit in Mueller's apple tree, from which he regularly makes freshly juiced apple juice. The police initially believe it's a suicide, greatly upsetting Lambert, who mails them a cryptic letter explaining that it was actually a murder to carry out the court sentence and to avenge all the lives taken. Later, the TV news reveals that Mueller was misidentified and is innocent. Feeling guilty, Lambert atones by dumping his fiancée Gail (Bonnie Hunt) and marrying Mueller's daughter Inga (Lily Tomlin). However, after the wedding, Lambert receives information assuring him of Mueller's guilt.

Cast

Reception

This was veteran writer and director Harvey Miller's final project.Getting Away with Murder
Variety, Daniel Kimmel, April 15, 1996 It received poor reviews from critics. Daniel Kimmel of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' described the film as "a distasteful affair that should embarrass all concerned. A lighthearted comedy about the Holocaust and an accused Nazi war criminal, it opened with little advance word and no advance screenings. That strategy was the one smart move Savoy made concerning this film, since this one is D.O.A."

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that "Miller's film looks professional and polished, but its comic timing is unerringly flat. Despite literate dialogue and the efforts of a worthy cast, the whole thing lacks any humorous spark. ..Like '' Faithful'', another indifferent comedy left behind after the demise of Savoy Pictures, ''Getting Away with Murder'' doesn't have anything radically wrong with it. All that's wrong is that it doesn't get anything right."Getting Away with Murder
The New York Times, Janet Maslin, April 12, 1996 Reviewing the HBO/Savoy video release, Erin Richter of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' said that "release delays and limited theatrical runs for comedies with seemingly solid casts don't always indicate a problem film, but they do in the case of writer-director Harvey Miller's paean to one man's attempt at righteousness. ..What could have been a smart and sardonic—not to mention timely—social commentary turns into a humorless collection of caricatures that even the more forgiving video screen doesn't improve."Getting Away with Murder
Entertainment Weekly, Erin Richter, August 23, 1996 It is one of a handful of films to score a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The opening paragraph of

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...

's review of the film for ReelViews read: Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars, writing, "Here is a film that tries to find comedy in the Holocaust, and it looks in the wrong places, in the wrong way, and becomes a sad embarrassment."

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for '' The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

wrote, "''Murder'' suffers from what I call

Craig Brewer Craig Brewer (born December 6, 1971) is an American filmmaker. His 2005 movie ''Hustle & Flow'' won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and achieved commercial success, along with an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "It's ...

Syndrome ..Filmmakers afflicted with Craig Brewer Syndrome make the least offensive films out of the most offensive premises. ..Lemmon and Tomlin deliver better performances than the material warrants. A deceptively playful Lemmon is plausible as both a genocidal monster in hiding and a harmless old man and Tomlin's uncompromising performance is refreshingly devoid of sentimentality. Yet their best efforts are wasted in a movie that aspires to make audiences laugh and think and only achieves half its goals."

Home media

After the film's theatrical run, HBO released the movie onto VHS. In 2004, the film was finally released on DVD. The DVD is now discontinued and as of March 29, 2010, neither HBO or Focus Features, the latter of which has begun to acquire some of Savoy's movies, has announced any plans to release a new DVD of the film.

References

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, id=getting_away_with_murder, title=Getting Away with Murder 1996 films 1990s black comedy films Savoy Pictures films Films about Nazi fugitives Films about Nazi hunters Films scored by John Debney Poisoning in film 1996 comedy films 1990s English-language films