The White Orchid

This is a pretty good modern film noir. The old staple of having the detective become obsessed with the murdered woman here gets an update by having the detective be a woman as well. Olivia Thirlby (Juno) in the lead role does fine as the detective, but is less convincing when she transforms herself later on -- but perhaps her character would be less convincing in that state. John Carroll Lynch (Fargo, Zodiac) is reliable as always as the sheriff saddled with Thirlby's investigation. And there are other familiar faces from the past - Jennifer Beals, Brendan Sexton III, and Lt. Uhuru from Star Trek. All in all, if you like your film noir in color, this movie is well worth a try.

Don't waste your time - not a worthwhile movie.

I can not figure out how this poor attempt at a "film noir" got such a high rating. It is short (1 hr 52 min) and wanders around at the beginning then rushes the ending with what the author must have thought was a plot twist. It is so rushed it leaves loose ends laying around.

The lack of a plot leaves me to believe that it was either the first attempt at a film or was on such a low budget the production could figure how to tie off the various open ends. The climax is so poorly constructed and rushed it doesn't answer what happened.

I started watching it because I went to Cal Poly; I wanted to turn it off after 20 minutes but my wife was doing the ironing and wanted to see if there were more shots of SLO,

Already the title of the movie conveys that this is going to be a noir experience, and while the beginning seems a little inauspicious in that regard, setting us up with a mousy-looking female protagonist instead of a weary and cynical male one, as is usual for this kind of genre, it does pay off as the character undergoes an unexpected arc and the movie's intrigues get more perplexing.

The cinematography and acting is pretty solid, but not outstanding. I liked the music, and the story was not bad, even if it got quite a bit far-fetched toward the end.

My main points of criticism are that the transition from the nerdy investigator to bombshell blonde was somehow not truly convincing, and that the protagonist and especially villain's actions toward the end seemed rather preposterous. In fact, the self-congratulatory tone of the exchanges between them at the end turned me a bit off.

In addition, due to the similarity of this movie's title with the erotic film "Wild Orchid", it sets up audience expectations for steamy love scenes, of which there is just one, and by erotic film standards it is more on the tame side.

All in all, not a bad diversion, but it could have been better.

With some similarities to the actual black dahlia case from the 1940s, which was never solved.... this was written and directed by steve anderson. Claire (olivia thirlby) is sent to a small town on the coast to investigate the murder of a young, un-identified single woman. When she meets the local sheriff (john lynch, who we know from fargo), she doesn't trust him, and realizes she is on her own. Some fun roles for well known faces... jennifer beals is vivian. Nichelle nichols (lieutenant uhura !) is teresa, friend of the deceased woman. It's okay. It's a little more melodramatic than it needs to be, and the wigs and make-up claire uses make her look like a drag queen. And we really didn't need to spend so long watching the band in the bar about an hour in... that kind of took away from the noir feeling of the story. The first three quarters of the film run in a straight forward fashion, but the ending feels like it was an extra big twist ending , or maybe changed around from what it was originally. Confusing. Produced in association with the humphrey bogart estate. Anderson seems to be employed or partnered with santana productions, which was also the name of bogart's boat. As of today, this is the last project listed for anderson. He also directed the big empty, which is good but also has an odd, mysterious ending. Seems to be his specialty.

I am a bit loathe to criticize a young actor, but ... I know me some acting, and good for her she got job and paycheck, but Ms Thirlby does not command her part or hold up the film as lead. And together with the otherwise in several ways failed realization of a being a good modern 'noir', this movie is a failed use of budget or much of your attention. Even though the script and directing are not tops, all the other actors do their parts well. And yes, as others have stated, Ms Beals shines as always. I wonder if this is an example of using the advantage of blinded male control. Ms Thirlby openly states her bi-sexuality, and is very relaxed and natural in that onscreen. Did that unduly gain her the lead? Otherwise I can see her 'thinking' and visibly 'controlling' her acting, be a 'small' presence on screen, and not commanding as the lead detective/character. And together with her acting, hair and makeup, Ms Thirlby, contrary to the needs of plot and film, is an unconvincing blonde 'beauty' (she is a lovely person and figure in her own self). I was fascinated not because it was good.