The story tells about the popular radio host Fielding Chase, who from the very first minutes sets the viewer against himself, while most of the characters of the film consider him a nice guy. How does it tune in? I don't even know where to start. Possibly because Fielding Chase thinks he is better, smarter and more cunning than others, without any reason? He just thinks he's damn smart, but he'll do stupid things over and over again, burying himself deeper and deeper. Or maybe the fact that the popular radio host in every possible way protects his twenty-five-year-old adopted daughter, not allowing her to have even friendly relations, so as not to be influenced from outside. Careful stepfather? No way! Fielding Chase has a dream of getting her adopted daughter into bed. Well, maybe the fact that as arguments in a dispute with interlocutors, the radio host resorts to gossip, rumors and fraud? Most likely, all of the above played a role, and therefore the hero of William Shatner does not cause sympathy, despite the fact that I fell in love with this actor on Star Trek. Maybe that's what Shatner's genius is as an actor? In different films, evoke diametrically opposite feelings. It could be. Closer to the body.
As for the story, it follows from the character of the hero William Shatner. Fielding Chase’s daughter, Rudy, is tired of being under the eternal supervision of her father and turns to the elderly but talented journalist Jerry Whitner for help. I don't mean to take it far away, even though that's what it was all about, but to help find a publisher for a book she wrote. This is done bypassing the stepfather, since the last moment would have banned such amateur activity and criticized the book of the adopted daughter to the dust. This is exactly what happens when Fielding accidentally finds out about the book. He not only contacts the publisher, and part-time his old friend, so that Ruby’s book will never be published, but also fires Jerry Whitner, publicly promising to kill the latter if he gets closer to Ruby than a cannon shot.
But Jerry Whitner deserves credit. He was not confused and promised to dig up on the famous TV presenter such materials that Fielding will be allowed around the world, and Ruby will gain the long-awaited freedom. This finally infuriates the famous radio host, who used to believe that the whole world revolves around him and nothing else. So he decides to kill. The murder was not that complicated, but tastefully and less talented detective may not be able to immediately solve the case, but Colombo only arriving on the scene understands who the killer is, it remains only to prove it.
This is a series and not, do not think that history has a double bottom. It really turns out to be incredibly simple. The murder is not very well furnished, but because of the large timekeeping of the film, the hero of Peter Falk is forced to pull the cat by... a mustache and delay the investigation. At the same time, Fielding Chase will try to convince his adopted daughter that he is her only friend and wishes her well, but don’t say that, and Inquisitor Frolo of the Hunchback of Notre Dame failed. Not even close. And I guess I know what the problem is. You see, Dennis Dugan specializes mostly in comedies. Comedies are light and non-binding. In any case, it was until the two-thousandth year, and the last works of the director I had no honor to watch. So it turns out that the director does not work in his genre. Yes, in the series “Colombo” in one way or another there was humor that was able to bring a smile, but it was never an end in itself. Dennis Dugan tried to change this by making it so that at the very beginning the hero of Peter Falk poisons jokes, being in close proximity to the deceased and then for some time walks with a sincere smile, as if he was told a great joke that remained a secret to the audience and the rest of the film crew. This causes a contradictory reaction. On the one hand, Peter Falk is a great actor and a good comedian, remember at least the “Great Races” that brought him fame. On the other hand, everything has its place and time, and to joke around the deceased seems strange to me. It's more like pathologists than Lieutenant Colombo. However, all this can be attributed to taste, especially since in the second half of the film the hero of Peter Falk refrains from jokes.
Outcome? The film looks easy and not tense, but in this very lightness is the weakness of the series. No one challenges the intellectual abilities of Lieutenant Colombo, and the villain himself does not arouse sympathy and I want him to be imprisoned as soon as possible. I’m not saying the series is bad. It’s just ordinary, but given how many episodes were filmed about the adventures of Colombo, then decide for yourself whether to spend an hour and a half of your life on “Butterfly in Grey” or it will be better to find a more “strong” story.
6 out of 10