Where's Marlowe?

The premise: Two young documentary filmmakers set out to make a film about a two-man detective agency in Los Angeles, led by Miguel Ferrer as John Boone. But things fall apart, and they get involved in the story, losing professional distance and objectivity, with hilarious results.

This is an absolutely marvelous film, and the mockumentary format lends an odd feel to it that's hard to explain. You'll just have to go see it.

I rented this movie last night without any idea of what it was, but even though it might have been rated as a one star movie, strangely I enjoyed it. It really flip-flopped around a lot and it was hard to keep track of the characters at times, but it was really pretty funny as a satire of P.I. movies. I got to rent it for a dollar, and it was surely worth that price. Miguel Ferrer was great as always. Even if a movie is so so, his acting is always first class.

If you are at the video store, and nothing else looks good, try this one.

This practically undistributed movie deconstructs the deeply hilarious American Private Dude archetype MUCH more sagely/gently/smartly/straightly than the also amusing, if brazenly campy/overcooked/dumbed-down, "The Big Lebowski". Commercial media wizards reject complexity, especially comic complexity (anything not BROADLY slapstick/satiric?) BEFORE it can come to market? Apparently. Wonderful stuff. Rent/buy it if you can find it. You might be charmed. You might even wonder WHY our professional masters consider us so uniform? Or plumb stupid? If we want ONLY movies that wash over us sensationally, WAVES of light/sound, we don't need ANY movies that ask for our attention, our thoughtful participation. Of course. If, on the other hand...

I definitely agree with previous comments. The movie is delightful! Although this is not the first or best mockumentary around (i.e. not ground breaking), it is a very funny satire without being overly tongue-in-cheek.

It took a while to get here (Vancouver, Canada) and probably won't stick around too long (there are 5 people in the Sun matinee screening I attended). That's really sad...it is 10 times more entertaining than most of the mainstream movies playing in the multiplexes.

It's an "8" for what it is, earning an extra point for being too original at the time. It's a mockumentary ala "Spinal Tap" and "Best in Show" which, frankly, are better, but this stands on its own. Following a second-rate private dick in LA, it jumps the "fourth wall", and incorporates the film crew, adding to the fun. One of the best things about it is its layers of droll that I suspect will not unfold until I see it again.

Having been weaned on Cristopher Guest's best (Tap, Waiting, Best, et al), and the TV hit "The Office", one thing this mockumentary has that it probably shouldn't have had... was a soundtrack. But, it was an ABC pilot order, and without any backup like a borrowed British TV success (The Office), that was unavoidable at the time. The soundtrack's not bad, but it does detract.

It's a fun attack on that line that separates Reality and the silly joke called life.