User reviews

Like the summary says - Watching The Detectives is strange, quirky, cute fluff. Like all of us folks on IMDb (as well as the characters in this movie), we watch too many movies. Too many bad movies. Too many similar movies. Watching The Detectives knows that so it veers off in a different direction and has some fun with the Romantic Comedy formula. It's a cute little movie. Could it have been better? Yes. Could the characters have been developed more? Yes. Could Lucy Liu been any cuter? I think not!! And to think she was almost 40 when she made this movie. 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!!). The supporting cast is good. The music is very good. In fact, the scenes where music is featured were my favorite parts of the movie.

Give it a shot if you're looking for something lite and different.

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.

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. Plus some very very good lines. 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. Liu's athleticism is on subtle display and it is pretty amazing. It also has two of the best rock and roll moments I've ever seen in films; one, a great indie band in a club running thru the heart riff of a unique song and two, a highly produced backyard karaoke performance that perfectly resolves the needs of the film's moment. The ending is kind of forced but to come up with a real resolution of this story would take a writer of true genius. Summary: not so good, but you can't find this many laughs of this quality very easily. A must-see for a totally non-serious I-don't-know-what-to-do-today day.

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. It's cute... 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.

Watching this in 2022 because of a tik tok recommendation.

The movie was going along decently well until about 50 minutes in when Lucy Liu's character literally did THE crappiest thing. Topping off all the other crappy things she had done, and causing me to stop the movie immediately.

The 2000s "manic pixie dream girls" are wildly unlikable, they're legitimately terrible people.

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

Basically this is a pale shadow of High Fidelity, which was a witty and wonderfully acted film with several truly winning character turns. 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. I mean, this film is centered around MOVIES, yet is itself incredibly uncinematic! 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? It's not funny. And the romance isn't terribly romantic, either.

So avoid it. Even at its 90-something minute running time it's just not worth sitting through...

I absolutely loved it!!! and that is said with all my confidence. This movie is the movie lovers movie and shows all it is worth with movie references, spoofs (The movie as a whole is not a spoof) and a few twists from movies previously made. The show is so mindbreakingly clever and witty that after wards the viewer is left with a very happy feeling that they viewed something worth seeing. The film is hilarious for 1 even 2 views and is SO much better then other crap coming out nowadays. 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. I rate this film 82%.

This film is a Lucy Liu your de force. She's a little older than your average manic pixie dream girl, but it totally works. She's the mysterious, quirky girlfriend type so many people grow up dreaming about, an she nails it onscreen. The chemistry with Cillian Murphy isn't electric, but Murphy plays off of Liu and makes there scenes really work.

There are plenty of other readily recognizable faces -- Jason Sudeikis, Callie Thorne, Jason Ritter, Paul Scheer -- all pop in and out in order to keep you nice and comfy.

The general vibe of Watching The Detectives captures that of the film's low-key 90's counterparts. That consistently brings me back to it, despite its clear flaws. However, in the end, you don't regret watching it and it maybe even makes you feel pretty good.

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.

Neil a movie lover who owns a movie rental store meets a woman named Violet which changes his life for good.

Movie talks about how we as a person should enjoy life rather than constantly distracting ourselves by our entertainment mediums.

"Watching the detectives" shows the range of Cillian Murphy and Lucy Liu. Both of them can do comedy and should do more comedy flicks.

They are really funny and the movie worked for me because of their chemistry. Cillian as a movie geek and Lucy as a pixie girl is really worth watching and it's really funny.

It's released in 2007 so the story is a bit old ,so you may feel it a bit cliche but it's still lovable.

Folks who like Scott Pilgrim vs. The world(2010) and 500 days of Summer (2009) should definitely check it out. You guys will enjoy it.

At one point, Violet (Lucy Liu) tells Neil (Cillian Murphy) that why she constantly seeks out for an adventure. She said "because I'm bore-phobic". It mean that she can't really get on with her life by doing some mandatory activities. Well, I think her reason and the way this film go is very ironic. Because "Watching the Detectives" is a cheer boredom.

Have any of these characters actually doing something exciting for once? Neil is a geek who runs his own very small video rental shop. He and his other geek friends usually hang out around the shop and watching movies together while debating about them afterward. But Neil's life is completely turned around when Violet walks into his store. She's an eccentric woman who hides a little secret from him. Anyway, after some dates, they decide to see each other. The problem is Violet is a person who keep doing prank jokes on Neil and can't really doing something normal, whereas Neil is completely opposite to hers. The question is. Is they are going to be in love at the end? You bet.

"Watching the Detectives" is a cliché romantic-comedy to its core. And they made it even worst by pretending to be something else. From the first couple of set-up, we know that Neil is pretty laid-back guy who didn't really commit to anything. And then, Violet enters the scene, looking all weird and annoying. So at this point, we all know that we're going to sit though all meaningless situations to find out how they're going to end up in the end. Is it worth waiting for? I would say no.

As I said, they tried to give something more for the audience. "Watching the Detectives" is trying to talk about commitment. To observe how far people go to reach for something they desire. We knew in the end that insane things that Violet has done is all the test how far Neil is ready to go to win her heart (or whatever). Well, I think it is completely bullshit. 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. On the other hand, Lucy Liu is dreadfully awful as Violet. Her acting is a mess. I mean it's all over the place and so over-the-top. Tony Montana would have been proud.

The last but not least mistake that movie made is a completely irrelevant title. You simply can't really connect a dot between the plot and its title; and then you will end up thinking that it makes no sense at all. In short, "Watching the Detectives" is pleasant if forgettable motion picture that you might have a chance to catch it on cable TV so quick that you couldn't imagine.

BloodyMonday Rating: 1.5/4

"Watching the Detectives" is a movie for movie watchers who like to sit around watching movies about people who sit around watching movies. Neil (Cillian Murphy) is such a person. 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 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".

First of all the film's title has absolutely nothing to do with the content of the film. This is a screwball/romantic comedy. Cillian Murphy plays Neil, the owner of a small video store which caters to film buffs like himself. Lucy Liu is a girl who enters the store but doesn't seem either that knowledgeable or interested in the movies. Seeing that he just dumped his last girlfriend for such an attitude, Liu's Violet seems unlikely to catch his attention. But, hey, it's Lucy Liu, doing the ultimate Manic Pixie Dream Girl, quite a change from her usual roles. Neil is intrigued. But unlike his movies, Violet is wildly unpredictable. As is this movie. Turn off your expectations and ride this wild roller-coaster ride of a comedy.

I find the supporting actors cringe and cillian don't seem to remember the lines well. There are some scenes where it could use a few more takes (like dinner with lucy liu and when cillian checked behind the register for the deposit).

There are some cute scenes though. But Cillian don't seem to take rom-com movies seriously as his performance aren't as well thought-out, intentional as his other roles in previous movies (girl with pearl earrings, disco pigs, breakfast on pluto, etc.) and a far cry from his future movies (Oppenheimer, inception)

Just a pity that it was sloppily directed, acted and no heart was put in by the main lead.

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-

Found this via the Cillian Murphy crying softball meme and figured given the cast it'd be worth a shot.

I don't think my expression changed through the 90 minutes, which after 45 minutes felt like 2 hours.

I like non-sequitur humor as much as the next person but I don't think I even chuckled once, much less laughed. This was so nonsensical almost throughout. The music gave me Bored To Death vibes (I suppose film noir scores sound similar) not to imply that this is anywhere close to on par with that show (the only connection I see is Heather Burns)

I appreciated the Super Troopers cameos (inckuding the writer/director) but no one is likeable in this. It seems like just a bunch of scenes to make inside jokes and lines, all crammed together with barely any connection.

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 wish I had seen more of that style of gumshoe stuff. I always liked the banter. Cillian was likable in his role, and reasonably hesitant. Lucy is trying to show more range. I would have liked to seen more from Jason Sudekis and I saw one of the guys from "The League" in there. I liked the premise, the playful tone of Violets character and the best part? Detectives Barlow & Lowenstein, Hilarious! I wonder who is the Sebadoh fan. Lou Barlow & Jason Lowenstein are two parts of the Boston indie band Sebadoh. 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.