Watching the Detectives
There's a BIG difference between watching life and living it.
Neil, a self proclaimed film geek and owner of Gumshoe video, has always been content to live vicariously through his favorite film noirs. But when he meets Violet, a real-life femme fatale, his mundance world gets turned upside down and line between reality and the movies quickly begins to blur. Will Neil step up and embrace a life full of romance and adventure or retreat back to his comfortable couch?
Member Reviews
Life getting in the way of watching movies is fun, funny and enjoyable - napierslogs
"Watching the Detectives" is a movie for movie watchers who like to sit around watching movies about people who sit around watching movies. Neil (Cillian Murphy) is such a person. He owns a small video store specializing in B-movies and other hard to find titles complete with a couch to just sit on and watch movies. But life gets in the way.
Intrigued by a cute girl who walks into his store and frustrated by the big video chain stores opening down the street, he follows her and ends up doing stuff. Unfortunately for Neil, things that Violet (Lucy Liu) usually gets into are illegal by nature. But fortunately for Neil, he's seen characters like Violet in his movies, and now he's given a chance to live them out.
I liked the character of Neil a lot. I liked the fact that he appreciated the comfort of his couch. He's cute and funny, and he would be smart if girls and life didn't get in the way. But I like Cillian Muprhy even more than I like Neil. He's got charisma and an unbelievably versatile talent that he can play just an ordinary guy. I didn't know that he could play ordinary with such a great comedic touch.
"Watching the Detectives" is a comedy for movie watchers - meaning you need to have seen classics like "Citizen Kane" and "Thelma & Louise" since this movie has a knack for giving away their endings. They probably also do it for a number of B-movies, but just ones that you likely haven't heard of. I would have appreciated a darker ending, but I still thoroughly enjoyed watching "Watching the Detectives".
Follow my blog Napierslogs' Movie Expositions at http://napierslogs.blogspot.comreally bad.... - danieltv
This is a horribly stupid & boring flick. Lousy script, acting & direction. Super disappointing. Yeah, it is like watching paint dry!
(Why do i have to write a review with a 'minimum' of 50 words?) That's kind of lame, don't you think? blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... is that 50 yet?Like Watching Paint Dry - Filmgal
Watching the Detectives has a fresh-sounding plot and two capable actors in the lead, however the film is simply dreadful, providing few laughs as it crawls along at a snail's pace.
Cillian Murphy is endearing as the lead character Neil, a shy owner of a cult video store. When he meets Violet (Lucy Liu), she infuses his mundane life with intrigue and danger, just like the detective films he admires.
Murphy is great in other roles, but comedy is not his forte. Liu is incredibly obnoxious and the trying-too-hard to be quirky Violet. Her performance would leave you wondering whether Violet is quirky or just derranged, if you cared enough to even put any thought into watching this film.
Even for film buffs who would apprieciate the tongue-in-cheek classic film references, Watching the Detectives doesn't carry it off well enough to make this movie watchable, let alone enjoyable. There is a reason it went striaght to DVD after a disappointing showing at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007.
Incredibly disappointing, it's not worth the space on your Ziplist.
Member Reviews
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Life getting in the way of watching movies is fun, funny and enjoyable - napierslogs
"Watching the Detectives" is a movie for movie watchers who like to sit around watching movies about people who sit around watching movies. Neil (Cillian Murphy) is such a person. He owns a small video store specializing in B-movies and other hard to find ...really bad.... - danieltv
This is a horribly stupid & boring flick. Lousy script, acting & direction. Super disappointing. Yeah, it is like watching paint dry!
(Why do i have to write a review with a 'minimum' of 50 words?) That's kind of lame, don't you think? blah, blah, ...Like Watching Paint Dry - Filmgal
Watching the Detectives has a fresh-sounding plot and two capable actors in the lead, however the film is simply dreadful, providing few laughs as it crawls along at a snail's pace.
Cillian Murphy is endearing as the lead character Neil, a shy owner ...