Murder 101 (1991)

***SPOILERS*** Gem of a whodunit that will keep you guessing right up to the closing credits and even then make you wonder just how those making the film "Murder 101" came up with it. Creative writing professor Charlie Lattimor, Pierce Brosnan, has been writing both fiction and true life crime stories where he's now one of the most read and celebrated crime novelists in the country. It turns out that a book Charlie just had published about a good friend of his Tim Ryder, J. Kenneth Campbell, whom he with the evidence he unearthed for the police help convict of his wife's Mrs. Anne Ryders, Terry Markwell, murder would later in the film come back to haunt him.With Ryder put away for life and Charlie's book about his crime hitting the top of the best sellers list things couldn't be better for Charlie but due to circumstances beyond his control they aren't with his estranged wife Laura, Dey Young. Laura is engaged to the pompous and sneering Harry Potter, Mark L. Taylor, who besides being a big pain in the behind to Charlie is now his boss at Hempstead Collage as it's head of its English Department. It's there where Harry ins in the perfect to make Charlie's life miserable. The very handsome and witty Charlie is also not immune to the romantic feeling and fantasies that some of his young attractive and sexually active female students have for him, which he can hardly resist. One of those students is Francesca Lavin,Kim Thompson, who's really got the hots for Charlie and doesn't mind, in fact she wants, the entire town to know about it even his wife and soon to be husband the obnoxious and snooty Harry Potter.All these what seems like unrelated items soon fall into place when Charlie decides to have his students write an essay on pulling off the perfect crime. One of Charlie's students the nerdy Robert Miner, Raphael Sbarge, decides in his work assignment that the now convicted Tim Ryder was the victim of one; a perfect crime that he was framed by the person who committed it to take the blame for. Charlie not finding Robert's accusations of him being part of Tim Ryders frame-up funny at all tries to disprove his absurd theory. As hard as Charlie does in trying to disprove it that fact that Ryder was set-up and framed for his wife's murder it becomes more and more evident with Charlie ending up in the same boat later in the movie; a pasty for a murder that he didn't commit but can't prove that he didn't.The movie, or Mrs. Ryders real killer, slowly sets Charlie up for the kill by having him spend the evening with hot to trot Francesc who's maneuvered, without her or Charlie knowing, into not only having an affair with him but being strangled in the same motel-room that she and Charlie are spending the night together! With Hampstead police chief and good friend Mike Dowling, Antoni Corone, having no choice but to arrest Charlie for Francesc's murder Charlie becomes a fugitive from the law having his wife hide him out until he can find out who set him up. Still the biggest surprise is yet to come when the man who Charlie feels curtain was the one who murdered Francesc and framed him for it turns out the be the killers next victim with, as you would expect, Charlie also being the prime murder suspect.The film leads up to where we find out just who the killer of both Mrs. Ryder and Francese as well as another person, that shall remain nameless, really is. The biggest and most unexpected surprise in the film is that the whole string of events,and murders, were skillfully and unknowingly planned far in advance with everyone, but those of us watching the movie, somewhat subconsciously knowing just what the outcome would be! That more then anything else is what makes "Murder 101" the real shocker that it eventually turned out to be.P.S There was one glaring inconsistency in the movie that almost ruined it for me and that was when Charlie was on the run from the police he found time to visit the convicted Tim Ryder in prison! This without the prison administrators guards and not to mention the local police not as much as having a clue that Charlie was at the time a fugitive from justice!

Pierce Brosnan plays Charles Lattimore, a crime writer/college lecturer who assigns his students the task of writing the perfect crime. Shortly thereafter, one of the students is found murdered, and Lattimore becomes the main suspect.The film's underlying premise is fine. The main problem here is that the film has a fairly high "fluff" factor. Its elemental, no frills screenplay, perhaps the result of budget constraints as a TV movie, makes the film seem shallow, too casual, and of low import. There is nothing wrong with fluff films, as they can be very entertaining. But some viewers dismiss them as unworthy of attention. In addition to having a plain vanilla screenplay, "Murder 101" contains some creative humor at the end, which further amplifies its fluff quotient. The result is that some viewers perceive the film as a spoof, or satire, of the murder mystery genre.But I found "Murder 101" to be a viable whodunit puzzle worthy of my time to try and solve. The plot does contain a few flaws, but they do not detract from the overall effect. Clues to the identity of the killer are very subtle, as one would expect in a good whodunit. One seemingly irrelevant scene is actually a major clue to the killer's motive.Viewers looking for razzle-dazzle special effects, innovative cinematography, fabulous costumes or set design, or unusual cinematic gimmicks will need to go elsewhere. What "Murder 101" offers is a basic, but nifty, whodunit puzzle. It will take all of your analytic skills and cunning to figure out the correct solution. And, if you're like me, you will really like that exit scene with actress Dey Young. It's a nice final touch.

"Murder 101" is by far one of Pierce Brosnan's best performances in an almost tailored role for his Irish personality. I think I haven't seen him in a better movie before he played James Bond in 1995. Brosnan plays a writer who teaches how to write mystery stories. He's a little crazy about perfection in his novels and is very interesting to listen to when he gives writing lessons to his classes. I love Brosnan's performances and hope he could get back to this kind of role after he gives up the Bond role.*SPOILERS*"Murder 101" tells the story of mystery writer Charles Lattimore (Pierce Brosnan) who recently wrote a highly successful novel about the true story of Timothy Ryder (J. Kenneth Campbell) who murdered his wife. Lattimore spent time with Ryder to understand his story and didn't believe that Ryder was guilty. But success was more important than friendship for Lattimore as he betrayed Ryder and wrote that he killed his wife. Lattimore is hunted by the betrayal he did to his friend and finds out that the murders occurring on campus where he works are destined to frame him. So he thinks Ryder is setting him up with a student from Lattimore's class (Raphael Sbarge). Lattimore tries to prove his innocence with the help of his ex-wife (Dey Young) and settle the score with Ryder before things get worst.This is a great TV-movie who could of been successful in theaters. It's a shame that it was broadcast on TV instead. It really is a wonderfully written movie that shows a difference between reality and fiction. Performances by Dey Young and Raphael Sbarge are excellent and make this movie shine on your TV. Rent it. I rate it 9/10.

This movie has a professor teaching students how to write a good mystery story, yet it doesn't play fair with its audience. SPOILER MAYBE. When I first saw this movie, I could tell halfway through that it wasn't playing fair, so I was able to figure out who the killer was, someone you not only wouldn't suspect but someone you shouldn't have suspected. Someone gets murdered in the movie, but it doesn't accomplish the killer's purpose, whereas killing someone else would have. There are also implausible incidents where the killer has opportunity or when they don't really have time to show up when they do. Also, the professor behaves stupidly when first confronted with his dilemma. Finding a body does not automatically make you the prime suspect. All in all, a badly written plot and the characters are not interesting enough to make up for it.