‘Watching the Detectives’ quirky comedy
WEEKENDER for Oct. 18, 2008:
I just love Lucy Liu as the whacky girlfriend in the unconventional romantic comedy, "Watching the Detectives."
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And no, after watching the film, I have no idea what the title means.
Cillian Murphy plays Neil, the owner of Gumshoe Video, one ugly video store.
Not sure when this is supposed to take place, but the big, fancy rival store has DVDs. Neil's hole-in-the-wall business seems filled with big, clunky VHS tapes.
There is a couch and TV in the middle of the store so Neil and friends can sit around watching B titles and debate what kind of anime is better.
Into the store comes the lovely, quirky Violet (Liu) who puts a $50 deposit down to rent a film because she doesn't have a driver's license or credit card.
Neil lives the safe life. How he can eke out a living in his store is open to debate, especially with two employees hanging around.
He lives his life through film noir. He loses girlfriends because they don't want to talk about Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal."
Liu's character likes to live create her own excitement. She converted her television into a fish tank.
When Neil arrives at the fancy restaurant for their first date, you would think he could never afford it. Violet has gathered all of the partially-filled wine glasses left on tables and acts drunk, to see if he'll take advantage of the situation and take her home to bed.
She's touched when he simply tries to get her home safe, but at the same time decides he owes her a $50 dinner. At the end of the meal, she pulls a massive adding machine out of her purse and tabulates how much he's spent so far, deciding how much dessert she needs to make up the difference. It's like something out of a Marx Brothers picture.
Later for fun, they go to the big, shiny, well-maintained big-box video store and hide in a closet. When it closes for the night, they spend time changing movies in the DVD jackets. The Disney animated features get the porn.
She is forever setting up dangerous situations for them to get out of and while he knows he should walk away from the relationship, there's something just too appealing about Liu's character.
Directed by Paul Soter, this isn't your normal romantic comedy. It starts out gangbusters, sags a bit in the middle but redeems itself.
Murphy, who had a more famous role as the Scarecrow in "The Dark Knight," does an effective job living life with Liu with his jaw dropped. Liu's Violet is like no other female character I've run into.
It's the kind of character Claudette Colbert or perhaps Katherine Hepburn could have played in the 1930s. This has "The Clerks" feel to it, but less gross-out. OK, so it's difficult to describe. It certainly isn't your common romantic comedy plot outline. It may not be the perfect date film. But then, it will probably give you plenty to talk about later. WATCHING THE DETECTIVES • Directed by Paul Soter • Runtime: 90 minutes • Not rated, but has some bedroom scenes and language • 3 stars out of 4
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