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Detectives out on DVD: finally, some reviews

14 August 2008 at 12:36 PM | by Melty_Girl and Quetzaltlaloc

This week saw a long-awaited Cillian flick released: Watching the Detectives, which went straight to DVD, finally came out in North America. Though most newspapers simply ran plot synopses in their "New to DVD" columns, at last there are a few reviews of Detectives from mainstream publications.

Production still from the Canadian <cite>Detectives</cite> DVD
See more Watching the Detectives production stills

The Star-Ledger deemed the film an "[o]verlooked but entertaining indie." The Globe and Mail praised the leads' chemistry: "Murphy and [Lucy] Liu work well together, which is just as well in a film built largely on banter and quirkiness."

Unfortunately, but as expected, some of the reviews were negative. Pennsylvania's Centre Daily Times summed up the minority view within The CillianSite Collective perfectly:

"Likeable though Watching the Detectives initially and semi-consistently is, it lacks a cuteness filter. One weird thing begets another, and once the zaniness starts to pile up, it becomes a bit much to bear. Considering all this weirdness is the movie's main point of distinction, as well as a device to take the story down a rather predictable romantic comedy road, that's no small problem to have. Though never wholly grating nor so weird that it cannot be understood, Detectives still feels like a lot of excessive wackiness just for the sake of it. By the end, exhaustion—and very possibly irritation depending on your threshold for cute overload—has settled in where gratification should be."

The Boston Herald gave Detectives a C- rating, as "Liu's performance is out of her comfort zone and unbelievably grating," but still praised Cillian: "Murphy fits comfortably into his role as a bemused, confused suitor wasting his time away discussing B-movie plots with his cronies." And The Columbus Dispatch's review, titled "Kooky romance hurt by odd plot," at least complimented Cillian and Lucy Liu for their "appeal."

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Showing comments 1 to 10 of 11 | Next | Last
Less Lee Moore
Posts: 10
Comment
Finally got to see this...
Reply #11 on : Thu January 28, 2010, 21:39:58
Yes, this comment comes WAY late, but I just finished watching it. I actually really enjoyed it. I agree that it was a bit lightweight, and it definitely had the vibe of "wacky '90s indie comedy," but I think a lot of that was due to the diegetic music.

The storyline was clever and the twists were unexpected. I found the characters quite believable and true to life, too.

Some scenes actually made me laugh REALLY hard and I thought Liu's character was fantastic.

It took me a few minutes to get used to seeing Cillian in such a light-hearted role, but I think he was wonderful in this. The chemistry between him and Liu was outstanding.

Overall, this was very enjoyable and I will definitely watch it again.
Lilianetty
Posts: 10
Comment
It was a funny movie
Reply #10 on : Thu August 21, 2008, 11:59:10
I realy enjoyed this movie with my brother, we were laughing so hard. I dint knew Cillian was so funny and Liu so exagerated! She made my brother laugh. The story and concept was also brilliant! I dont know why friends of mine think this movie sucks when it is so cool! I realy loved it and I will buy it on DVD! I even imagine myself as Violet and my best friend as Neil. But yes, people has their own opinions, but me as a loyal Cillian fan, I think this was one of my faves, including BATMAN BEGINS, BREAKFAST ON PLUTO and SUNSHINE...oh, and RED EYE!

Lilianetty/THE JOKERDISE CRANE
aka Alex
DanLatino.com STAFF
Anonymous
Posts: 10
Comment
Re:
Reply #9 on : Tue August 19, 2008, 21:29:15
I honestly did not think it was that bad. It's not a mindblowing movie or anything, but it's cute and fun. There's some good dialogue and Cillian and Lucy have a great on screen relation ship.
In fact, it sort of inspired me. Lucy's character Voilet pulls of Project Mayhem-esque stunts that really made me want to go out and graffiti up my local WalMart or picket Shell gas stations or something.
Nancy
Posts: 10
Comment
I liked it
Reply #8 on : Sun August 17, 2008, 23:52:29
It could have been better, but was still quite enjoyable. I thought Cillian was absolutely adorable in the movie! It was nice to see him play a comedic role, although I with he didn't have that put-on American accent!
Angie
Posts: 10
Comment
cute
Reply #7 on : Sat August 16, 2008, 21:47:24
It's a great little indie romantic comedy. The critics should keep that in mind, indie not "the latest disaster movie". It's also a nice relief to see Cillian in a comedic role after all the serious ones he's played. I couldn't imagine any other actor playing violet than Lucy Liu. Their chemistry together was perfection. It would be fun to see a part two of this movie...the vacation at graceland.
Alyssa
Posts: 10
Comment
Re:
Reply #6 on : Fri August 15, 2008, 01:02:13
Detectives isn't his best movie, but it isn't his worst either. I definitely liked it more than Disco Pigs, Bitter Harvest, and On the Edge, to name a few. I probably won't buy it (I only own a few Cillian movies despite my rabid fangirliness), but I was thoroughly entertained. Plus, my mom liked it, and she hates a lot of Cillian's movies I love (Intermission, for instance).
Nancy
Posts: 10
Comment
Re:
Reply #5 on : Thu August 14, 2008, 23:13:31
Yeah I saw the film when it first came out on DVD via BLOCKBUSTER on pre-release. I thought it was a cute film but nothing really special. Kinda reminds me of those movies that I see late night in the weekends. Cillian and Liu were cute in it though.
poxy
Posts: 10
Comment
Re:
Reply #4 on : Thu August 14, 2008, 20:55:28
I really loved the movie. Um, but i did notice that it could have been better i think it was well directed, but for his first time Soter did really well. The second time I watched it I really listened closely to the lines and there were a lot of funny parts, but the way it was played, you wouldn't get it unless you were paying attention, but I loved it! The script was really good, but some of the jokes were too subtle.
I the part where they are at the store. And violet says something like, "Bambi, put something dirty in this one,"
and instead of putting a dirty movie in Bambi (wow that's sounds wrong) Neil presses the DVD onto the floor. Then i think he thinks that he is being called Bambi? i dunno but there were a lot of great parts.
Melty_Girl
Posts: 1
Comment
Re:
Reply #3 on : Thu August 14, 2008, 18:14:03
I think most big fans, including me, the one staffer who thinks the movie was a badly failed effort, will want to own the DVD (as long as they can afford it). Because even though I wish "Watching the Detectives" was better, Cillian does look pretty damn hot in it. And as an obsessive collector, I want to own all his movies.
Last Edit: August 14, 2008, 18:14:47 by Melty_Girl  
Kellatrix
Posts: 10
Comment
Well..
Reply #2 on : Thu August 14, 2008, 17:57:32
I really want to get it on DVD anyway. As Anonymous said, a bad Cillian movie is better than a lot of movies. :P
Showing comments 1 to 10 of 11 | Next | Last