Growing tired of her staid, predictable job and her staid, predictable fiancé, a female lawyer dreams of excitement and adventure. Consequently she becomes a private investigator. While choosing her office, she runs into a bona fide ghost. The ghost belongs to a predecessor, to wit a long-dead private investigator who still struggles with an unresolved case...
"Love can be murder" combines a number of genres, mainly romance, mystery/detective, comedy and fantasy. The comedy and mystery/detective elements meet in a (mostly affectionate) pastiche of all things gumshoe circa 1940. The old murder case being unraveled isn't all that compelling, although it does generate a surprise twist near the end.
For most of its running time "Love can be murder" is an agreeably diverting thing, as light and airy as dandelion fluff. Both protagonists charm and there are a number of enjoyable jokes and lines. However, the movie rather insults the collective intelligence of its viewers by including a scene in which the plucky heroine survives the explosion of a car. Given the circumstances, there is no way in which she could have escaped the explosion and the resulting blaze. As a result one would expect the character either to die on the spot or to sustain horrendous injuries - but no, the character survives, completely unharmed, in order to continue the good fight.
Here one could say : "Relax, it's just a dream-like fantasy, there's no need to overthink a piece of light entertainment". However, I would defend the position that fantasy movies, especially fantasy movies during which a ghost story is embedded into a recognizable reality, need to pay particular attention to a truthful depiction of that reality. Otherwise the tale devolves into an irritating mish-mash where anything becomes possible, from the heroine breathing underwater to the chief villain growing three heads.
"Love can be murder" combines a number of genres, mainly romance, mystery/detective, comedy and fantasy. The comedy and mystery/detective elements meet in a (mostly affectionate) pastiche of all things gumshoe circa 1940. The old murder case being unraveled isn't all that compelling, although it does generate a surprise twist near the end.
For most of its running time "Love can be murder" is an agreeably diverting thing, as light and airy as dandelion fluff. Both protagonists charm and there are a number of enjoyable jokes and lines. However, the movie rather insults the collective intelligence of its viewers by including a scene in which the plucky heroine survives the explosion of a car. Given the circumstances, there is no way in which she could have escaped the explosion and the resulting blaze. As a result one would expect the character either to die on the spot or to sustain horrendous injuries - but no, the character survives, completely unharmed, in order to continue the good fight.
Here one could say : "Relax, it's just a dream-like fantasy, there's no need to overthink a piece of light entertainment". However, I would defend the position that fantasy movies, especially fantasy movies during which a ghost story is embedded into a recognizable reality, need to pay particular attention to a truthful depiction of that reality. Otherwise the tale devolves into an irritating mish-mash where anything becomes possible, from the heroine breathing underwater to the chief villain growing three heads.
