Art Deco Detective

Ex-patriate Australian writer/director Philipe Mora may not exactly be a household name, but he has had one of the oddest careers of any movie maker I can think of. If I knew nothing about his work, or his background as an artist and experimental film maker, I would automatically dismiss 'Art Deco Detective' as worthless and leave it at that. But obviously there's more to this movie than meets the eye. It's supposed to be some kind of conceptual joke. Unfortunately the concepts are asinine and the jokes aren't funny!

Mora semi-regular John Dennis Johnston (Verhoeven's 'Flesh & Blood') plays movie-buff detective Arthur Decowitz, hence the Art Deco of the title. He finds himself emeshed in a convoluted plot to capture Hyena (Stephen McHattie - 'The Ultimate Warrior'), a psychopathic serial killer posing as an Islamic terrorist who is attempting to nuke LA and therefore resume the Cold War. (Yep, that's what it says). Deco must keep his wits about him as he finds himself duped, misled and double-crossed by a variety of femme fatales, his cop buddy Detective Lean (Joe Santos of 'Rockford Files' fame), an English porno movie director (Mel Smith of 'Alas Smith And Jones'), and the Machiavellian Government agent Wexler. (Mora's favourite and b-grade legend, the late Brion James).

Whether you'll even bother trying to keep up with the contrived twists and turns of this idiotic noir homage, depends on how much of a masochist you are. To make matters even worse the LOOK of this movie is one of the most aesthetically displeasing I've seen in a long while. It appears to be shot entirely on cheap videotape. Why is anybody's guess. The only reason to endure this mess is if you are a fanatical Brion James fan. Listening to him spout lines like "You are more than two tacos short of a combination plate" and "Very touching. If I had tear ducts I think I'd cry. Unfortunately the other side pulled them out during the Korean war" is the closest thing you'll get to entertainment on offer here. One to miss!

Art Deco Detective came out before its time. Now 10 years later, it was prophetic. It reveals the plot and theory of 9/11/2001 Terrorist Attacks on NY and the Pentagon. The movie was made in 1994 and includes archive footage of President Lyndon B. Johnson preparing his speech with his writer.

Director and writer Philippe Mora is a historian. This movie leads to the conclusion that the US government blamed the terrorist acts on the Muslims to start another war, because war is good for the economy. In Art Deco Detective, the Muslim terrorist leader (which is described the same way Usama bin Laden is described) sets off a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles while the heads of the US government leave the day before to an island vacation. I don't know if Philippe is psychic or researched inside information, but this seems as his way of warning the world. This movie is deep and entertaining and not meant for people with A.D.D., you must think and focus while watching. There is plenty of skin and sexy Bettie Page inspired bondage and S & M with a tongue in cheek sense of humor. It is a dark comedy and you can learn something about history and the government at the same time.