The Cheap Detective

Audience Reviews

View All (81)

Blu B Half the time it is a spoof of the golden era Noir films but the other half it's more a spoof of Casablanca. Problem is while Casablanca shares Noir elements it's much more a complex love story than a murder mystery noir. So i really doesnt mesh well at all. Overall though everything is still alright I'd say. This does a great job nailing the asetics, great camerawork, and mood of a lot of those movies even in color. Humor wise it does get a few laughs every now and than and for the most part it's a mix of smart/clever stuff and some stupid dumb humor. It's a pretty good balance. It reminds me a bit of ZAZ humor. Problem is its just not consistent. For every laugh there's 1-2 jokes that just don't work and are flat. None of it is terrible but it's almost too smart for it's own good. Another issue is scenes really drag in this a lot also because the plot is really complex and the jokes drag out these long scenes quite a bit. It's weird it's like it's super serious but than goes to flat/inconsistent humor and it just makes things boring but also funny sometimes and its kind of weird. It's VERY hard to keep track of the revolving door of woman in this and while it's done on purpose as a spoof of a cliche of this genre it still is hard to follow. Finally, I swear for like 85% of the runtime NOTHING HAPPENS. Like it's just setting up the initial plot, than spoofing Casablanca, a revolving door of woman, and jokes but none of it really ties together. And honestly, if you have enver seen a Noir, any actors in this, or Casablanca I really struggle to see why most people would like this. Unless your a HARDCORE Noir fan AND fan of any actors in this (especially Falk who is great when hes here but feels forgotten about in long stretches so is just alright overall) than skip this. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/12/25 Full Review nick s Had a lot of promise with nice sets and loads of star power. But leant a bit too heavily on one liners, making the comedy one dimensional. It also felt like the directing/editing wasn't snappy enough and uninteresting moments outstayed their welcome. Still, it's worth a watch. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/25 Full Review T W Even if it isn't Simon's best, it's still well worth a watch. As to comparisons to "Airplane!", this one was made years earlier. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/11/24 Full Review Mike S Silly but hilarious spoof. Similar in humor to Airplane and Naked Gun, but with a more historic reference. It was a great diversion from the absurdity that is today's world. So many great performers and a good reminder of how talented Madelyn Khan was. The ending was a great twist. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/07/24 Full Review Audience Member The 1940s wartime setting and wardrobe were the best things in this movie. The storyline and script were not good. Not Neil Simon's best. Maybe the 1978 audience was not as sophisticated as today. This film seemed to be solely built on star power alone and has not aged well. It looked like everything was filmed in a studio. I can't be sure there were any authentic outside shots. It was what it was. Cheers. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/27/24 Full Review Clint E It's a Bogie spoof, it's Neil Simon plus Peter Falk leading an all-star 70s cast. While Bogart remains the greatest movie star ever and his best known films, The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, set the standard for memorable lines, The Cheap Detective hiariously succeeds as an inside-joke type spoof. The 1970s was an era teeming with muder mysteries with all-star casts, setting the stage for this total mash-up of fun. I'd love to see the outtakes. Neil Simon's dialogue is upraoaious, but with the addition of stars such as Falk doing Bogart and Fernando Llamas doing Paul Henreid, the Nazi major in Casablanca, the result is too funny for words. I didn't expect the dead-pan hunor from Louise Fletcher, but she pulls it off flawlessly as does every otherv actor. For the record I liked this slightly more than the similar Murder By Death or even Clue, made almost a decade later. Kudos to Eileen Brennan, who's in all three! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/24 Full Review Read all reviews

The Cheap Detective

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Most Popular at Home Now