Apart from a couple of very funny scenes - Columbo at the call girl's and his feet aching because of his new shoes - I found this film unconvincing. The motive of the murder isn't clear at all, the reason why Columbo suspects of murder is a little weak, both women's roles are not so relevant - I would say they're rather useless - and the ending is quite abrupt and unsatisfactory. But most of all: Since Culp's telephone was bugged as well as Eric's, why not checking out Culp's tapes - together with Eric's tapes? By comparing the two tapes, Columbo would have noticed that Culp's second phone call (the phone-box call) was totally absent from Culp's tapes: that absence would prove that he wasn't in his office at all when he called Eric for the second time! 6/10
Review of The Most Crucial Game
