For this one Chaplin mostly ditched his old slapstick antics and went for more of a dark, cynical tone. That idea really works out well in the first half, because it's just really intriguing to watch Chaplin play a cold-blooded killer. It's just so out of the ordinary. Sadly, the movie starts dragging from then on, because the pace is so slow and there is virtually no variation in the scenes. Every scene is Chaplin courting women and occasionally trying to kill them. Also he gets in some funny situations that are not really very funny. Especially the wedding scene goes on for way too long and seems really out of place. Perhaps I would have laughed if it was in a different Chaplin movie, but what is it doing in here? The usual social comments are also involved, but while they were spot-on in "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator", here they're just weird. Apparently our protagonist kills people and takes their money because the economy is so bad and he has no choice (fair enough) and also the real mass murderers are actually the world leaders. To me that doesn't really justify killing bunches of innocent people, but I guess I shouldn't judge. This is an odd thing to see, but the overall style and Chaplin's performance makes some parts worthwhile.
Review of Monsieur Verdoux
