Watching the Detectives
Tags: cult, prank, flashback

Plot synopsis:
The film opens on a dark film noir black and white scene where a 1940s style detective shoots a villain—for trying to return a late video. The lights come up, revealing that we are watching a commercial for Gumshoe Video, and the detective is Neil (Cillian Murphy), the store's owner, who is premiering the ad for friends at a party at his modest cinephile video store. His girlfriend Denise (Heather Burns), who appears in the commercial, does not show up at the celebration.
The next day, Neil meets Denise at a restaurant, but before he goes to the table, he gets a waiter (Steve Lemme) to spill a glass of water on her, just to watch her overreact. She is not amused by the prank, and tells him he needs to get his life together instead of just watching movies and playing immature games. He casually breaks up with her, telling her she is not enough like Katharine Ross in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Back at the store, Neil is watching a film with his friend/employee Jonathan (Jason Sudeikis), when femme fatale Violet (Lucy Liu) makes her entrance, turning his head. Violet has no identification or credit card for her rental deposit, so she persuades him to take $50 cash, which he puts in an envelope under his antique cash register. When she returns, she surreptitiously steals back the deposit, making him think he lost it, but she says he can take her out for a $50 dinner to make it up to her.
At the date, Violet arrives first and pretends that she has already gotten really drunk. When Neil does not try to take advantage of the situation, she reveals her joke and they proceed with dinner. At her urging, they go to a Media Giant store – his corporate competitor – and hide in a closet until after the employees lock up for the night, then they switch a bunch of DVDs into the wrong cases and knock over some displays while fleeing. The next day, they spy on the Media Giant and see an employee talking to a police officer. Later, police detectives drop by Gumshoe Video to question Neil about the Media Giant break-in. Once they have completely scared him, Violet appears and she and the "cops" begin laughing hysterically at the ruse. A flummoxed Neil secretly trails Violet back to her house, where they end up in bed, falling in love. The following morning, they go for a romantic swim.
Sometime later, Neil is leaving to meet Violet at the park when he runs into friends (Callie Thorne and Michael Yurchak) who beg to come along and meet his new girlfriend. Violet feeds them another party's picnic meal and leaves them to answer for it. Neil tries to make their next date quieter, by watching a basketball game, but a bored Violet then does not want to stay the night. Later, he goes to see a band play at Jonathan's bar and spies her flirting with a musician. Jealous, he stages a rock guitar scene for her at their next date. After they have sex, she reveals that she just staged the club scene and, before going to sleep, tells him about all the musicians she has dated, including a bald, Polish, avant garde musician (Richard Waddingham) who stalks her from city to city. Paranoid, Neil imagines that every bald white guy he sees is the stalker until Violet stages a scene where she has been tied to a chair by her ex, the Bald Giant, who turns out to be her friend Denis (Richard Waddingham). Frustrated by Violet's tomfoolery, Neil breaks up with her.
Neil runs into Denise and realizes that he treated her somewhat like Violet has treated him, and that he misses Violet and the excitement she created. So when she calls and tells him to come to her workplace, he does. She tricks him into stealing money from her job at an illegal casino, thinking it is another one of her fake scenes. He is shot at and chased. Neil is exhilarated by the crime, but Violet takes the money and lets him know he has been used. Neil is very distraught at another breakup, but Violet returns to say that the breakup was a joke, too. Neil is initially infuriated, but Violet convinces him that his life is more interesting and adventurous with her in it. They make up and drive off in the new car Violet bought with some of the robbery money.

Review: Like the summary says - Watching The Detectives is strange, quirky, cute fluff.
Watching The Detectives knows that so it veers off in a different direction and has some fun with the Romantic Comedy formula.
Think of Watching The Detectives as a well made Indie film and you'll be pleased.
It's already dated as the idea of a small, local video store catering to folks who like all kinds of movies is an idea whose time has unfortunately passed, but that's also part of its charm.Lucy Liu is great.
Cillian Murphy is OK (his look is more suited to post apocalyptic movies!!).
Cillian Murphy proves his versatility and Liu is cute as a button in this enjoyable but extremely lightweight comedy..
The premise is not original, the acting is good but not exactly to write home about and technically it's not a great accomplishment.
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.
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.
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?
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.
I do not want to tell you the end but it is worth it as there is 2 or 3 twists you will NOT see.Overall a fan of movies will love this and even a person who ONCE a week sits down for a movie will enjoy this cinematic Masterpiece.
Watching the Detectives - Neil (the very talented Cillian Murphy) owns a rundown video store that specializes in obscure B movies and film noir.
One day he meets an intense free-spirit girl named Violet (Lucy Liu) who plays pranks on him compulsively.
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.
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 suppose there aren't enough ironic film buffs out there and fans of Cillian Murphy, whose performance makes the movie.
Life getting in the way of watching movies is fun, funny and enjoyable.
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 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.
Watch it of your own choosing, its hard to recommend a film that has good ideas but poor execution.
Neil (Cillian Murphy) runs a vintage video store with a small group of friends.
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.
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.
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.
This is an original movie with some amazingly funny and surprising moments, some preposterously bad acting and action, and a premise and resolution that really strains the imagination.
It's a movie that plays, rather joyously, at 'being dumb' (Lucy Liu's nipple pops out of her dress and remains there for a whole scene) but creates hysterical situations and carries them off thru the sheer pleasure of Murphy's enthusiasm.
Watching the Detectives: screwball comedy for the 21st century.
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..
Watching the Detectives has none of that.The premise of a video store geek swept off his feet by a quirky mystery woman is a good one but is never fully or adequately explored, thanks to a very weak script and the miscasting of the leads, not to mention the lack of any real visual story-telling style.
That's a major failing right there.But the main problem is we simply don't care about the main characters because the script and the actors (Murphy and Liu) fail to make them true or sympathetic in any real way.
So the film just becomes a series of episodes involving two people who seem, well, not terribly interesting.Oh, yeah, another thing: For a romantic comedy?
While the premise of the movie was most attractive to me: "A film noir buff has his life turned on end by a femme fatale with a big adventure in mind," and the casting of Cillian Murphy and Lucy Liu quite inspired, the execution was pretty ho-hum, and it's no wonder this movie went straight to video.Despite the premise, this movie's more of a twisted rom-com, in which Liu somewhat sadistically teases Murphy on by constantly lying to him about everything, and Murphy masochistically keeps going along like a puppy who's been whipped and likes it.
for a little while, and then you start wondering what kind of a fetishistic sex life they would have as a couple.There are a few weak tribute scenes to the film-noir genre, but the only truly geeky (and amusing) scene comes when a group of movie buffs try to guess where and why Liu stopped watching a videotape movie by looking at how much reel has been unspooled.I wish someone would give Lucy Liu a movie in which she's not portrayed as an Asian tigress, no matter how she does look like one..
This movie felt fresh, like a newly opened bag of jelly beans after years of eating chocolate covered almonds.
Lucy Liu and Cillian Murphy have fabulous chemistry, they're adorable and sexy.
I could watch them both all day, and in fact I watched the movie a second time, despite the slightly disappointing ending.
At one point, Violet (Lucy Liu) tells Neil (Cillian Murphy) that why she constantly seeks out for an adventure.
Well, I think her reason and the way this film go is very ironic.
But Neil's life is completely turned around when Violet walks into his store.
You bet."Watching the Detectives" is a cliché romantic-comedy to its core.
This movie will end pretty quick if Neil just said to himself "Forget about it, that girl is one of a nutjob !" After collaborating with many great directors recently (Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" and "28 Days Later", Ken Loach's "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and Neil Jordan's "Breakfast on Pluto" to name a few), it's pretty weird choice for Cillian Murphy to make a movie with one of Broken Lizard comedy troop, Paul Soter.
By all means, He's not bad (as usual), but such a talent actor like him shouldn't be wasting his time in the movie like this.
lucy liu was so adorable in the movie ..
it way better than some of the movies which had previously masqueraded as comedies !!!!!.
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.
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 really like her, but she was better in action movies, or playing a more serious character.
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.
However, there's a cute oasis called "Watching The Detectives", an indie film that charmingly destroys the conventions of courting.
Sunshine enters the store as Violet (the cooler than cool Lucy Liu of "Lucky Number Slevin", "Rise" and "Dirty Sexy Money") a quirky dame, who drags Neil into her eccentric atmosphere.
I think Kevin Smith (the View Askew saga) was lurking about somewhere as two video clerks converse about which's better: Japanese death anime or Korean snuff cartoons.Murphy and Liu, who slyly echo Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn from "Bringing Up Baby" (a favorite of mine), look like they're slumming, but with most of the scripts masquerading as good material nowadays, who could seriously blame them, and their performances are too sweet for words.
I rate most of the movies I watch but it's the first time I bother to comment, so here's this: this movie's hilarious.I was very pleased with Cillian Murphy whose trademark seems to be this 'real life' guy vibe he emanates, without ever striking you as 'white' or 'black', 'this' or 'that' or any kind of stereotype so many so-called actors will pull on over themselves like a coat, instead filling up his character from the ground up, and it feels so natural.Most of all, though, I was surprised by Lucy Liu, who I had never thought of as more than someone who'd stumbled into the business having unexpectedly found, or founded, a niche in the gorgeous-Chinese-face-with-an-attitude department up until now.
And then from the moment she first appeared on screen, I realised she could actually act, and at the end of the movie, I even think she's good at this!
I have a new respect for her, and really would love to see her in more things that would put her acting talents to good use, being a person and all, and not just, you know, kicking ass, snapping or glaring.So, again, the movie's a riot, feels fresh, and was very competently acted.
The only sad thing is that there's some kind of message, yeah, but the irony is you're sitting on your couch, watching it being fed to you, and all along you know it's not going to change your life.
This movie had a lot of hilarious moments and, thank god, unique funny characters that weren't the same old generic personalities.
This film is about being spontaneous, creative and adventurous every day, rather than the far more boring one-dimensional act of watching others (ie.
A movie by a member of Broken Lizard that rings a bit like "clerks".
I wondered the whole time how many scenes were inspired by old film noir stuff.
I liked the premise, the playful tone of Violets character and the best part?
The sets could have been lit better, more contrast to get that feel, the way the old movies looked with the characters in dimly lit rooms..
Still, though I find it very surprising that Cillian Murphy would do a film of this sort (a chatty, slapsticky, quirky American comedy), given his resume, he brings something to it that would have been missing otherwise.
Though his role of Neil is primarily reactionary (to Lucy Liu's nonstop pranks), there were some moments of his own that had me in stitches (pretending to be a rockstar smoking a joint, for instance!) Lucy Liu (am I spelling it right, I hope?) is riotous as Violet, the girl who immediately draws Neil, a film dork who owns a video store that specializes in rare, cult and classic movies that aren't avail on DVD, into her world of bor-ophobia and endless mischief.
If you don't laugh during the scene where the 2 noirish cops question Neil in his office, you may have the wrong sense of humour for the whole thing.After a while, though, the pranks begin to feel a bit forced, and the "robbery" towards the ending left me confused as to what was fake and what wasn't.
It's definitely not Cillian's best film, but that's not to say it isn't a cute role for him or that he didn't play it well.
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.
Most of her escapades are well thought out (My favorite being the picnic scene) and leave both the viewer and CM 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 ...
Usually, when I think of romantic comedies, I think of films with recycled lines, main characters who are hardly engaging at all, and a bland, overused storyline of them meeting, hating each other, are forced to spend time together, fall in love, fall out, and then one magically knows where the other person will be at that exact moment so they can run over there and confess their undying love.
However, this film, is surprisingly original and even though it has an out there story line, shows what relationships are like in real life.
The main character being Neil, a young man who has a run down video shop in the middle of his town who is competing with the big mega video store (and lets be honest- we all know someone like this in our own hometown).
This film has some brilliant, funny lines and scenes that actually make you laugh out loud (thinking of the scene where Violet 'breaks up' with Neil, and he's in hysterics while playing cricket).
This film could've done a lot better with a better director and maybe a better script at times, but overall it is a good film with brilliant actors, and it is one of those small little films that just make you happy to watch them..
It was nice to see a love story that didn't devolve to the level of something like "What happens in Vegas." I thought Lucy Liu and Cillian Murphy were both excellent, and as a male I must say that Lucy Liu was unbelievably cute (in a hot way) in this movie.
And for those of us who watch a lot of movies, new and old, there are some great nods to classics of the past.
Different and really good for a low-budget romantic comedy.
He watches movies and relates real life to movies and like a lot of people he gets bored with real life.
Something to really bust out of real life and maybe even more scenarios where they put themselves in few movie scenarios.