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“You know, you’re practically the only person who ever rents this,” a video store clerk once told me. He didn’t resemble Cillian Murphy in the least – no pretty eyes, nor willowy frame – but that’s not my point. Point is, some people go to church in the hopes of meeting a nice girl, or to the local bowling lounge for a suitable drinking buddy; whereas, based upon that very comment from the video store clerk (“practically only” is not quite “the only”, afterall), I once entertained the notion of affixing a stick-um note to some of the rare gems I enjoyed. A VHS bathroom stall of sorts – “If you liked Interstate 60, email Angela…” I am happy to report, I am not the only one who has ever felt that far more...
socializing should transpire in video rental establishments. In Watching the Detectives, writer/director Paul Soter crafted a video geek’s Mecca: Gumshoe Video, specializing in hard-to-find rentals, boasted a couch and chairs in the middle of the store. Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, 28 Days Later), easily captains the owner of the pocket change store. He’s an actor rarely found in the tabloids (he’s much too talented for his weight and possible whoring to be measured), so, I haven’t heard many rumors. However, when viewing the film, there was a palpable, stick-um-to-video-box hope alive in my heart that he truly is a veritable film geek. When a come-hither lovely ventured into the shop, and randomly selected two rentals for a sick friend – the heartbreak in his luminous eyes when it became clear she’d never heard of either, and further, didn’t much care… it had to be real. I mean, Brando couldn’t fake that. Could he? | 
Geek Meets Girl. Girl Ruins Geek's Life. |
Let’s hope not. Let us hope that when Gumshoe Video had a Prison Movie Special, and Murphy’s cinephile Neil donned a worn black-and-white striped Jailhouse Rock getup, Cillian Murphy was just as geeked, wished just as hard that he could rent from a place like that, as the rest of us do.   Download the iTune Here | Watching the Detectives isn’t nearly as vague (or bouncing and grooving) as the Elvis Costello song – yet, despite the trappings of the Romantic Comedy label, it isn’t entirely formulaic, either. As Paul Soter explained in MovingPicturesMagazine.com, “All this makes me wonder if maybe I didn't make a romantic comedy after all. I mean, if it doesn't look like a duck and it doesn't quack like a duck, maybe it's not a duck. Boy does meet Girl. Boy does lose Girl at some point. And I think I'm not ruining anything by admitting that Boy gets Girl back.” |
So, allow me to explain before I dig into the meat of the film: I would nix the Romantic Comedy shackles, and place it under “Slice of Life” cinema, instead. It’s not pure form Slice of Life – there aren’t various characters undergoing a multitude of epiphanies, rather, a Slice localized on a single relationship. This might have been a step outside of the norm for most filmmakers, but, considering Soter’s film pedigree (uh… he’s one of the Broken Lizards), it was a dive into a four foot deep pool for Soter. There aren’t outrageous characters, men mugging, gay jokes and gross outs – it is, surprisingly, simply a charmingly quirky tale.
War Movie Night at Gumshoe. | When we first meet Neil, there’s not a whole lot of backstory offered. His store might be overshadowed by the big chain, but it is his passion, and he’ll fill every 3am television advertising slot he can afford to keep his dream shop afloat. Soter’s risks begin here. Either you possess endless empathy for Neil, or none. He isn’t a grows-on-you sort of character, as nothing he does later in the film will unravel an early, snooty judgment of “loser”. Then, one day, Neil meets Violet. Lucy Liu is one of those actors I can’t quite peg. I like her – a lot. Yet, I am continually surprised to see her in films I’d fancy watching. Not big budget fare. Not the sort of films that inspire the masses to curtail their trip to the beach and run to the theatre, but small, unlikely films. Rise: Blood Hunter? And starring opposite Cillian Murphy? Can we trust this trend, or did someone just convince her they were good ideas? Either way, she’s a delicious little bundle. |
Liu is believable as Violet, a ballsy but self-contained girl, who inspires Neil as she shirks the rules as easily as a taller woman might exfoliate her long legs. This isn’t a new idea in film, in fact, AVClub.com bears a list of sixteen “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” films – but, I daresay, I’ve never seen it done quite like this before. There’s a scene in the film May, where the off-kilter lead lady serves her date Kool-Aid out of wine glasses. I was reminded of this when Violet seats herself Indian-style on a street-side bench, and nonchalantly whips a pair of binoculars out of her backpack before an incredulous Neil. … oh, we’re not supposed to serve Kool-Aid in wine glasses? … What? Carrying mini-binoculars is weird, or something? Geez. Guess I shouldn’t cart around a small dissection kit either, then. So, Violet isn’t imprisoned by the constraints of society. A self-diagnosed “bore-o-phobic”, she doesn’t dig on film. Blasphemous words to Neil, whose film adoration has translated into a sedentary lifestyle… and yet, the contrast of their existences is intoxicating to him. Why watch detective films, when you could play it out? Why whine about the evil rental franchise down the street, when you can sneak in and switch all the tapes? Violet is, at once, sexy, whimsical, daring, possibly certifiable, and potentially a path to prison for Neil. As I referenced earlier, it is, indeed the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” plotline – the dainty, batty girl swoops into a man’s life and beats the doldrums away. With the entrance of Violet, the line between reality and fantasy become lost in the smoke for Neil. Is he ready for his longings to come to life? Are any of us? Safety can be found in appreciating risks, while sanity exists on the sofa. There have been some negative reviews of this film. It is hardly shocking every one of those I saw had been scribed by males. Violet instigates one stupedefying stunt after the other, some with nearly dire consequences, causing some male reviewers to shake their fists and assert that Neil, “would NOT have stayed with her after she pulled that!” Only… yeah. He would have. And you know what, little male reviewers? You would have, too. Seeing Violet in action, it all becomes clear: as in, clearly, the Sisterhood of Woman just isn’t nutty enough. The problem with bellyaching when a man musters only a snippet of a phone call on your birthday isn’t that you’re being crazy – it’s that you’re being predictable. Next time, try faking your death. Of course, it would take a split atom to conjure the amount of energy Violet displayed, which is why it’s a movie, and not a documentary. Still, we can draw inspiration. |  |
| So, Bravo to Paul Soter for taking a chance with a little film about a nerd who falls in love with the most wrong woman in the world… but becomes more the thing he’d always admired as a result. Not a film for everyone, certainly not for those who expect their Romantic Comedies heaped up with sexy women being clumsy, and events quickly dissolving into a comedy of errors. Watching the Detectives leaves you with a feeling not unlike that first true day of Spring, when you can finally roll the window down, as you’re cruising along. A few speed bumps along the way, some false starts and quick finishes – but it was a story worth putting on film, and was stunningly cast. Worth the admission. Or rental. Only, we’re not quite lucky enough to rent it from a place with couches for us to hang out and kibitz on. | |
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