Watching the Detectives (2007)

Usually, when I think of romantic comedies, I think of films with recycled lines, main characters who are hardly engaging at all, and a bland, overused storyline of them meeting, hating each other, are forced to spend time together, fall in love, fall out, and then one magically knows where the other person will be at that exact moment so they can run over there and confess their undying love. However, this film, is surprisingly original and even though it has an out there story line, shows what relationships are like in real life. You're engaged from the start- as the characters are very relatable. The main character being Neil, a young man who has a run down video shop in the middle of his town who is competing with the big mega video store (and lets be honest- we all know someone like this in our own hometown). And then there's Violet, an eccentric, spontaneous girl. The characters have instant chemistry, as they both have a passion for adventure. This film has some brilliant, funny lines and scenes that actually make you laugh out loud (thinking of the scene where Violet 'breaks up' with Neil, and he's in hysterics while playing cricket). This film could've done a lot better with a better director and maybe a better script at times, but overall it is a good film with brilliant actors, and it is one of those small little films that just make you happy to watch them.

I tend to avoid romantic comedies, especially recent American-produced ones. Not because I'm single, but also I don't relate to the hunky guy, the object of affection for the high-strung, lonely lady, who desperately seeks Mr. Right, in a so-called humorous fashion. I'm not a boorish or a nebbish, but I feel what guy would date a woman who feels she's needs a man to be happy? Guess I'm too logical. However, there's a cute oasis called "Watching The Detectives", an indie film that charmingly destroys the conventions of courting. It also shares its title with the Elvis Costello tune, but didn't have the budget to secure the song's rights to put it on the soundtrack. Fair enough.Neil Lewis (a lively Cillian Murphy of "Red Eye" and "Batman Begins") is the owner of Gumshoe Video, a hole-in-the-wall video rental store that's a haven for VHS tapes. The man loves movies, but the types that won't be playing at the local multiplex: Cult. Exploitation. Grade-B. Foreign. Film Noir. In the shop, cinephiles discuss a movie, a genre or what scene did some unsatisfied renter stop a movie on a tape, unlike in the nearby corporate, sugar-filled rival "Media Giant" (a sub for Blockbuster).Problem is Neil's too much of a fantasy junkie, instigating pranks so life won't be so boring. That turns off his current girlfriend (Heather Burns), who ditches him. What to do now? Sunshine enters the store as Violet (the cooler than cool Lucy Liu of "Lucky Number Slevin", "Rise" and "Dirty Sexy Money") a quirky dame, who drags Neil into her eccentric atmosphere. He's enamored but she gets him into some very risky antics. You'll wonder who nuttier than a squirrel's winter stash but won't care while seeing two kindred spirits have chemistry.A member of the comedy troupe, Broken Lizard, Paul Soter ("Super Troopers") helms his script with the same raw courage that infested the indie films of the previous decade. I think Kevin Smith (the View Askew saga) was lurking about somewhere as two video clerks converse about which's better: Japanese death anime or Korean snuff cartoons.Murphy and Liu, who slyly echo Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn from "Bringing Up Baby" (a favorite of mine), look like they're slumming, but with most of the scripts masquerading as good material nowadays, who could seriously blame them, and their performances are too sweet for words. Jason Sudekis ("Saturday Night Live" and some "30 Rock" episodes) and Michael Panes are durable as the aforementioned clerks.The only snag is the film's lack of promotion by its' distributor, Peacearch. Sure, "Watching The Detectives", the second film Ms. Liu starred in that debuted at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, along with "Rise", is unconventional, but that's what gives this underdog gem some giddy, honest warmth. See this film, and you'll thank yourself.

At one point, Violet (Lucy Liu) tells Neil (Cillian Murphy) that why she constantly seeks out for an adventure. She said "because I'm bore-phobic". It mean that she can't really get on with her life by doing some mandatory activities. Well, I think her reason and the way this film go is very ironic. Because "Watching the Detectives" is a cheer boredom. Have any of these characters actually doing something exciting for once? Neil is a geek who runs his own very small video rental shop. He and his other geek friends usually hang out around the shop and watching movies together while debating about them afterward. But Neil's life is completely turned around when Violet walks into his store. She's an eccentric woman who hides a little secret from him. Anyway, after some dates, they decide to see each other. The problem is Violet is a person who keep doing prank jokes on Neil and can't really doing something normal, whereas Neil is completely opposite to hers. The question is. Is they are going to be in love at the end? You bet."Watching the Detectives" is a cliché romantic-comedy to its core. And they made it even worst by pretending to be something else. From the first couple of set-up, we know that Neil is pretty laid-back guy who didn't really commit to anything. And then, Violet enters the scene, looking all weird and annoying. So at this point, we all know that we're going to sit though all meaningless situations to find out how they're going to end up in the end. Is it worth waiting for? I would say no.As I said, they tried to give something more for the audience. "Watching the Detectives" is trying to talk about commitment. To observe how far people go to reach for something they desire. We knew in the end that insane things that Violet has done is all the test how far Neil is ready to go to win her heart (or whatever). Well, I think it is completely bullshit. This movie will end pretty quick if Neil just said to himself "Forget about it, that girl is one of a nutjob !" After collaborating with many great directors recently (Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" and "28 Days Later", Ken Loach's "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and Neil Jordan's "Breakfast on Pluto" to name a few), it's pretty weird choice for Cillian Murphy to make a movie with one of Broken Lizard comedy troop, Paul Soter. By all means, He's not bad (as usual), but such a talent actor like him shouldn't be wasting his time in the movie like this. On the other hand, Lucy Liu is dreadfully awful as Violet. Her acting is a mess. I mean it's all over the place and so over-the-top. Tony Montana would have been proud.The last but not least mistake that movie made is a completely irrelevant title. You simply can't really connect a dot between the plot and its title; and then you will end up thinking that it makes no sense at all. In short, "Watching the Detectives" is pleasant if forgettable motion picture that you might have a chance to catch it on cable TV so quick that you couldn't imagine.BloodyMonday Rating: 1.5/4

The premise is not original, the acting is good but not exactly to write home about and technically it's not a great accomplishment. But is 'Watching The Detectives' entertaining? Definitely. Lucy Liu fits the role of the play-in-the-field perfectly (her role reminded me of her character in Lucky Number Slevin) and Cillian Murphy really proved to be a surprise in a comedy role. I've only seen his really intense, sometimes scary roles and couldn't believe he was going to be somewhat enjoyable as a light character but I was very wrong.The antics they get in to are fairly original and there even were several laugh-out-loud moments, for instance when the waiter is just a little too comfortable with spraying a glass of water on a woman he doesn't know on the request of a guy he doesn't know. :-). And when Lucy starts talking about her weirdo ex-boyfriends me and my friends were in stitches. The following scenes are quite amusing too, as Cillian gets paranoid over every bald guy he sees.I mentioned some of the more original stuff above but there's also formulaic stuff present. WTD is never intended to be a film we can take something away from, it's harmless escapism that ironically enough deals with escapism a lot of the time :-). The relatively negative connotations concerning movie freaks certainly left a bad taste in my mouth after viewing, after all isn't that the target audience of these small films? I somehow feel they didn't find the right balance between respecting film and commenting on over-obsessive film freaks. Also the fact that they can't differ people who watch sci-fi, anime and stuff from the people who enjoy quality movies (like the mentioned Seventh Seal or Casino). Seems a bit ignorant.In the end, DTW is better than a lot of comedies but it never goes deep, we (us guys) just fall in love with Lucy Liu all over again and that's never a bad way to spend ninety minutes.7.5/10