jotix100
Mineral water executive Howard Pigeon has married the wrong woman. Elizabeth, his beautiful wife, is irritating, opinionated, and everything he hates a woman to be. Howard wants to get rid of her in the worst possible way. His plan takes him back to the hotel where he and Elizabeth spent their honeymoon in Spain.Walter begins planning how he will kill Elizabeth and dispose of her body to make it the perfect crime, the only thing is, little does he know that Elizabeth has her plans of her own. The night Walter has chosen to commit his crime, Elizabeth disappears. Immediately, he becomes the prime suspect, something he wanted to avoid, at all cost.Director Baz Taylor, who has worked extensively on television, tried his hand at this black comedy, that unfortunately doesn't go anywhere. The viewers are asked to accept Jeff Goldblum's larger than life performance as the husband that has had it. Mr. Goldblum is all over the place trying to give life to Walter. Mimi Rogers, an actress that should be seen more, underplays Elizabeth. Both actors appear to be acting in different films, probably because of the direction Mr. Taylor conceived for the picture. Both Mr. Goldblum and Ms. Rogers are totally wasted.The largely Spanish supporting cast don't have much to do.
tabaddon
...Well, I think it's clever, anyway: "'Shooting Elizabeth' is a 28-minute high-speed farce crammed into 92 minutes."I am a rather devout fan of Goldblum and usually forgive some of the quirkier film choices of the '80s and early '90s ('Vibes', 'The Tall Guy', 'Mr Frost' was good, 'Framed'); and I do usually enjoy Rogers. But this...this is just...even I had to shake my head a little. It has its moments, but they are few and far between.This may be good for a rainy Sunday afternoon, but you may find yourself wanting to finish the job yourself so you can go on to more interesting fare.My vote: 3 out of 10 stars.
bob the moo
Tired of 13 difficult years with his wife Elizabeth, water company executive Howard Pigeon plans her murder on their second honeymoon. However on the day he has planned the deed she disappears leaving him a Dear John note. However the police suspect that he has killed her and begin to put together enough evidence for a trial.A silly plot is set out but it's done with energy and that saves it. The first half is Howard plotting and the second half is him trapped in a web. The ending is a bit too tidy but it's quite sweet bare in mind you'll have stopped looking for realism by the final scene. The thing that put me off is that it's set in Spain but it isn't used well at all it feels like a cheap UK movie with the mix of accents and cheapish sets etc.What saves the movie is Jeff Goldblum although he only saves it if you like his brand of nervous Jewish tick stuff, you know, like he does in every film. He is funny and he is right out there in terms of overplaying every part of his character. Without him this would not be worth watching. Rogers isn't any good and isn't in it too much and the mainly Spainish cast are not very funny either. Only a cameo by the great Burt Kwouk takes the eye of Goldblum.Overall this is silly and feels cheap but Goldblum is great (unless you hate him) and he makes it worth watching.
lphelan
Jeff Goldblum in the role he was born to play: Howard Pigeon. Scheming to escape from his unhappy marriage and talking animatedly to himself, Goldblum's delivery of stuttering gesticulation is perfect, eerily resonant of Mamet's use of repetition and rhythmic logic. Pigeon is blissfully unaware of his impending doom as he plots and seethes. Mimi Rodgers is brilliant as his wife and foil Elizabeth Pigeon. The film is strangely set in Spain, with much of it shot along the Spanish coast and in the mountains. Well much of the film follows the finest abusurdist traditions, the ending brings a surprising amount of emotional weight. Worth seeing for Goldblum's performance alone (a strange idea indeed).
AD
