Diabolicamente Sedutora

Neil (Cillian Murphy) runs a vintage video store with a small group of friends. All of them adore movies and engage in arguments every day about which animation techniques are the best and so on. Although Neil has a girlfriend (Heather Burns), he decides he'd be better off without her and says sayonara over lunch. Good thing, too, for into his store walks a darling lass, Violet (Lucy Liu), who wants Neil to recommend a movie for a sick friend. The video man does so, hoping he will see Violet again. As it happens, Vi is one unusual lady and she arranges some further meetings with Neil with the utmost flair. Knowing he likes mysteries, Violet makes herself into a femme fatale and scares the willies out of Neil, by faking kidnappings, hiring thugs, and more. Somewhere along the line, the two fall in love but Neil never knows what Vi will do next to rattle his bones. Is there a future in such a relationship? As a fan of Murphy's, it was a rush to find this film at the price of one dollar. However, the good feeling soon evaporated, no fault of this fine and handsome Irish actor. He is good and Liu is downright adorable. But, although there are some memorable scenes and interesting premises, the flick still seems very disjointed and sloppily put-together. Too bad the screenwriter didn't ask for help, for a second writer might have found a way to increase its appeal. As it is, one scene follows another, without a focus. The scenery is pretty good, as are the costumes, and there is a few charming moments, such as the time Neil kisses Violet through a hole in the fence. Therefore, if you think Murphy is handsome or Liu is intriguing, you might want to give this film a whirl. Otherwise, even a dollar might seem too much to spend.

Watching the Detectives is a loving homage to the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s, adopting the basic formula of Bringing up Baby, i.e. daffy broad woos uptight dork. The dork is Cillian Murphy's Neil, an esoteric video store owner obsessed with being part of the movie reality he spends so much time the passive viewer of. Along comes Lucy Liu's Violet, a moderately insane woman who doesn't need to watch movies because she is always starring in her own, and is determined to have Neil as her costar. She involves him in a string of situations reminiscent of classic movies, noir and screwball alike, while attempting to help Neil realize she's the best thing that ever happened to him The movie is pleasant, though meandering at times, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The story could have used a little stronger of an underlying plot arc to tie together the comic episodes beyond the basic premise of Liu's pursuit of Neil. This plot arc component is what made Bringing up Baby, It Happened One Night, and other classic screwball comedies so good, the laughs occurring within a tight script. Watching the Detectives' script is funny if a bit flabby, but Lucy Liu and Cillian Murphy deliver inspired performances amidst a talented supporting cast, and are able to make you forget the film's flaws and enjoy yourself.

The central message of the film is good one for all of us who spend too much time watching and not enough time making our own movies.

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

Watching the Detectives - Neil (the very talented Cillian Murphy) owns a rundown video store that specializes in obscure B movies and film noir. His life consists of watching movies and chatting while his life goes nowhere. One day he meets an intense free-spirit girl named Violet (Lucy Liu) who plays pranks on him compulsively. The film contains many delightful nods to gumshoe film noir.

The plot is simple, and it seems like the sort of film that was made for film buffs, with more references than you can shake a stick at. It even feels like the sort of film I would make, and doubtless director/writer Peter Soter speaks from experience. The premise is enjoyable, as is the chemistry between Cillian Murphy, who is the show, and Lucy Liu. She perfectly plays the "crazy" girlfriend. She's like fire. Violet burns brightly, but often burns the gullible Nick with her pranks. Nick reminds me of me. And I love myself, and love Cillian Murphy, so this film really spoke to me.

The films message, which is to get out and enjoy life, might rub some film aficionados the wrong way for criticizing the wholeness of their lives, so their umbrage is understood, though unfortunate. I know fully well that screens are no substitute for real life and take every opportunity to do something else. They are a nice distraction when things are stagnant though.

It's just all in good fun, often very good fun. The shenanigans that Nick and Violet get into are just too much. I wholeheartedly enjoyed this film. Watching the Detectives is cleverly written, often very funny and quirky and idiosyncratic as hell. As this is the case, it's not for everyone but eons better than most of what has come out this year. I'm dismayed Watching the Detectives didn't get a full release. I suppose there aren't enough ironic film buffs out there and fans of Cillian Murphy, whose performance makes the movie. This and Breakfast on Pluto are a great set of companion films. Watching the Detectives gets an A-

The only reason I gave it a 6/10 is because Cillian Murphy is always a good performer.He is the only one to watch in this movie. But for an actor of his range, it is still disappointing. I thought that it could be a different type of romantic comedy,- it started interestingly enough- but after you got the point of this girl (Lucy Liu) being "nuts", it is going nowhere. I smiled, maybe, once.The rest of the time I just waited for something to happen. Lucy Liu is not charming enough in this kind of pranks, because she is not a teenager, or sweet, and she is not convincing. I really like her, but she was better in action movies, or playing a more serious character. I didn't find a great chemistry between them. I think that the director and the stars tried to make it work because a story about this weird guy who lives a boring life unlike in the movies he watches (big surprise here...), falling for this 'border-line con'/ grasshopper,- sounded like an appealing and funny idea of a movie - but it didn't work. not for me, anyway.I also have a feeling that this kind of plot was done before, and it worked better.