A film noir buff to the extreme is given a taste of his own medicine and has his life turned upside down by a kooky femme fatale with a big adventure in mind. Sometimes love is stranger than... Read allA film noir buff to the extreme is given a taste of his own medicine and has his life turned upside down by a kooky femme fatale with a big adventure in mind. Sometimes love is stranger than fiction.A film noir buff to the extreme is given a taste of his own medicine and has his life turned upside down by a kooky femme fatale with a big adventure in mind. Sometimes love is stranger than fiction.
- Awards
- 1 win
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn order to keep as authentic of an American accent as possible, Cillian Murphy didn't use his true Irish accent on set until the film finished shooting.
- GoofsDuring Neil's "concert" for Violet, she accidentally burns a cardboard cutout's eye. Later when Neil is crying over their breakup while ringing up a customer, it shows the cutout burn-free.
- Quotes
Lucien: Ya know, we could do this later if you want?
Neil: Oh god Lucien, she's ruined it for me Lucien. I mean it's all so boring now!
Lucien: Hey, hey let's put in a movie?
Neil: No, no more movies. It's no use, it's not enough anymore, ya know? It's just all so mundane and so predictable Lucien. Oh hey look! It's Jayson. Jayson's going to come in here and he's going to hand me a package, and then he's going hand me his thing, and I'm going to sign the thing and I'm going to hand it right back to him, and then he's going to get in his truck and he's going to drive of. Oh, it's... it's so predictable Lucien, it's not enough anymore, ya know? Where's the... where's the adventure, you know?
[while signing Jayson's package]
Neil: there's no adventure man. Where's the adventure Lucien?
Jay: You signed it Neil Adventure.
[Neil signs it again]
Jay: You crossed out Adventure and wrote adventure again.
Neil: What does it matter Jayson? Huh!
[Neil walks away]
Jay: It matters because I'm actually responsible for any package that doesn't have a valiad signature or receipt...
Lucien: [Goes to sign the package] Jesus Christ...
Jay: I don't make the rules.
Lucien: Lighten up Jayson.
- Alternate versionsThere are no less than four different versions of this film available: Runtimes are "1h 34m (94 min)"--general theatrical release, "1h 31m (91 min) (United States)"--theatrical release, "1h 34m (94 min) (Argentina)" and "1h 30m (90 min) (DVD) (Poland)".
- ConnectionsFeatures Scarlet Street (1945)
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".
- napierslogs
- Apr 9, 2011
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $15,006
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1