Customer Reviews

Watching the Detectives

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I understand why this film was never widely distributed. How it made it into production is amazing to begin with, not to mention attracting such talents as Murphy, Liu, and Burns.

The beginning hooks you like an old Cary Grant/Katherine Hepburn flick, but it doesn't reel you in. We get much more background on Neil than we ever do on Violet and this is very unsatisfying. Their interchanges are more interesting than enlightening and do little to reveal much about what's really going on inside the "bored", albeit whacko, lead chick's brain.

Murphy gives a great performance as a small-time video store owner (Neil) engrossed in classic flicks, but we never see the "inside" of Violet (Liu), a real-life femme fatale who wanders into his store one day. And we don't know if Neil ever sees the inside of Violet.

Many scenes drag, do not move the characters along, or are not really pertinent to the plot. Character arcs are virtually nonexistent. If you see the movie once and try telling the story to someone, you'll find it difficult to do so.

Bottom line - this could have been a really good movie. If Violet had, in fact, been a detective or an FBI agent and Neil had somehow become involved in her mission, we're talking future classic here. We're talking Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.

This movie is hilarious beyond belief. Staying up late and catching it on Showtime at 6:30 in the morning was like finding a diamond in the rough. This movie lacks major character development more like a television show that you should have been watching for a few weeks and then got a 2 hour finale special. You never really get any character insight you never fully get to know who NEIL is (CILLIAN MURPHY BATMAN BEGINS SCARECROW) or the even more mysterious Violet (LUCY LIU CHARLIE'S ANGEL'S). Half the movie is spent with Neil half the movie is spent with Neil trying to get Violet's phone number& figuring out where she lives. Neil is quite the classic movie buff and hates the big time establishment "MEGA VIDEO" (something like blockbuster) for their lack of love and knowledge of movies they own. He has his own set of nerdy movie friends who bicker over different movie topics, whereas Violet is a very bizarre and spontaneous character who comes and goes her friends like herself are very kooky and random but play minor various roles throughout the movie. She meets Neil and tries to get him to portray the characters he watches in movies rather than just talk about them this leads Neil on an adventurous life risking few days or weeks. The movie loses you in confusion numerous times, amazingly and surprisingly funny if you want a change of pace, just bored out of your mind or you want to see Lucy Liu and Cillian Murphy out of their normal character watch it. It won't disappoint if you fall under those 3 categories. My rating 3.5 out of 5 stars. IT HAS POTENTIAL.

This movie was purely entertaining. If you are looking at for a film for quality this is not the one; but if you are looking at a movie to cheer you up I suggest it. It was really cute and funny; and Cillian Murphy was quite good looking in the flick.

Loved "Watching the Detectives!" Quirky romance! Lucy Liu's character is a hoot in the ways she goes about to test Cillian Murphy's character to see whether he is a good guy or not and whether she should invest time in him. Cilliam Murphy rocks as usual -- a most versatile and amazing actor. See the film, have a laugh.

You cannot judge a book by its cover. I was not expecting much out of this movie but I was really surprised to find Murphy has a real talent for comedy. I laughed throughtout the whole movie. I thought the script was smart and very funny, and the performances were fresh and unexpected.

Lead actors Cillian Murphy and Lucy Liu carry "Watching the Detectives," which probably started as a screwball comedy but ended up morphing into something more akin to slice of life or fantasy. Murphy is a video store owner hopelessly tied to vintage film and a group of losers that pose as his friends and hangers on at the store. Liu, an unconventional beauty, comes to the store one day and, upon entering his life, changes everything about it.

This runs about 90 minutes but never varies far from its beginning with the sexy Liu consistently surprising, and often turning inside out, her male counterpart with her twists, turns and tricks. She specializes in surprise attacks, you might say, where the otherwise straight arrow Murphy consistently falls for the gags. It's some fun while it's going on, maybe even more than some, but it doesn't wear well. I could hardly remember a thing about the film two days later than what I've said in these two paragraphs.

Still, the strong leads by the principals lift this above the ordinary. Good production values and occasional flamboyant art direction helps too. This is an offeat story about a couple that goes places most film don't and is unpredicatable all the way. I watched this the same night I saw a big budget, star-studded Hollywood extravaganza where I knew everything that was going to happen 10 minutes after it started. Ninety minutes after "Watching the Detectives" started, I couldn't say that about this one.

I loved this movie. I thought it was completely quirky and fun and it didn't take itself too seriously. If you're in the mood for some light-hearted amusement, I say give Watching the Detectives a try. Plus, Cillian Murphy is exceptionally easy on the eyes and he gets to show off his comedic chops a bit in this one.

The basic premise: Neil (Cillian Murphy) owns a small independent video store and lives passively in a world of make believe movies. Violet (Lucy Liu) lives a life of adventure. She would rather do than watch. She stages real life scenarios of situations Neil can hardly imagine. Most of her escapades are well thought out (My favorite being the picnic scene) and leave both the viewer and Neil wondering just what's going on and how things will turn out.

I wish we'd gotten more background story on Violet, maybe a little input on why she puts the moves on this particular guy, but it's thoughts like that ... film criticism ... that will spoil the fun.

Don't go in expecting too much unless you are a Lucy Liu fan. It's not a mature or edgy film. There's not much to it except a delightful 90 minutes spent adoring Violet. Nothing wrong with that.

Lucy Liu gets to wear all these cute outfits, many are low cut but not unduly provocative. The wardrobe department should get some props here. She looks great. She gets to act all femme fatale (though this film is inappropriately labeled 'noir') as she pulls prank after prank in an effort to deal with her "rare, exotic disease."

We get the quirky Liu here, not the tough one. She looks like a college student most of the time, except for the close-ups. Her body language and delivery are free spirited and charming in a predictable but nicely done way. From standing pigeon-toed to sniffing her armpit for odor, she's as cute as a button. I don't imagine the film makers were shooting for anything beyond that.

This quirky romantic comedy is lighthearted fun.
It's not meant to be a Dr. Zhivago and doesn't pretend to be. It accomplishes what it sets out to do - offer light & breezy comedic entertainment. Lucy Liu and Cillian Murphy are great together.

The names attracted me to this film, and although it began somewhat humorous and interesting it just kind of plodded along the same route until it became boring and repetitive, which I found weird since that seems to be a major aspect of the film(?). The performances in the film are fairly well done and kept me interested longer than if they were done by lesser talent, but still not enough to rescue it. Some of the instances Violet puts Neil through are slightly clever but more times than not they're just a little too outrageous for my tastes, and in a couple of circumstances not even remotely plausible. As stated by other reviews here there is almost no background or development on Violet's character that is never addressed which is a huge pitfall. Another is the predictability (at a certain extent), not at the details but the overall story. I thought it tried hard to be offbeat or oddball, but it either didn't go far enough or wasn't executed well enough to be considered either. Going in I thought it had potential, and although there were some things to be commended, there just wasn't enough there for me.